Low calorie food and artificial sweeteners

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So I'm the lightest I've ever weighed since having baby no 2 and calorie counting. I've worked hard to lose the weight and it's been a big lifestyle change. However I do eat a lot of food/drink with artificial sweeteners in. This has helped me lose the weight and I feel if I gave these up I would def gain weight. Examples of some of the things I consume are Pepsi max, skinny syrup, protein bars, protein yogurts, protein ice creams. I know consuming these isn't ideal but if it stops me from being overweight isnt that better health wise? Some of the studies I've read say the problems with these sweeteners is they can encourage weight gain which I haven't found. I've also read studies about ultra processed food and how they increase the chance of you being overweight but I don't eat takeaways, fried food, etc. I do try to include whole foods into my diet too. Does anyone have any thoughts on this or any advice on how to curb my sweet cravings with more whole foods?

Some sweeteners cause an insuline response as if you've eaten sugar. Perhaps things like fruit rather than juice, yoghurt made from whole milk. Low fat foods generally aren't as good as the full fat version as they are full of starches and thickeners and are less satisfying.

artificial sweeteners cause an insulin spike, because your body responds to the taste by "recognising" it as sugar. These insulin spikes are accumulative, and eventually increase likelihood of type 2 diabetes, and all the horrible health problems associated with that, including obesity, etc.

You are right to be worried

The best advice is to find other flavours you can enjoy, which are not so sweet, and break the habit

Hey, it's working, don't knock it! Sounds like you've found your winning formula. Plus you're eating way more protein which is really good for your body. Sure artificial stuff has health issues of some kinds but a lot of things do and I think being overweight is going to stress your body more.

I'd maybe just add some vitamin and mineral supplements to balance it all out.

I started to make my own cakes etc with maple syrup or date syrup as I seem to get less of a craving response than when I use sugar sugar (maybe because one uses less with the syrups?). I know the calorie content and it helped back when I was trying to lose weight after having DD, as they were lovely and I found it easier to control my eating when eating whole foods and home made puddings. Basically eating nursery food I guess!

I wish I had the time to make my own stuff more instead of going for convenience food. I do worry about the sweeteners but I don't drink alcohol or smoke, my bmi is 20, I average 15000 steps a day, I think I would find it hard to give up food I like that contains sweeteners too after going through such a lifestyle change

You sound exactly like me in terms of bmi/activity etc and I eat a lot like you too. I've eaten this way for years and only listen to science bars consistently proven research. Adding in diet drinks and protein supps really won't cause you any issues if they are not eaten in crazy quantities. Whey protein is just a derivative of dairy so is perfectly safe. Yes it's processed but so are most foods! As long as you have some fruits veggies grains etc thrown in as well I reckon you're all good! Remember that the most damning studies done on artificial sweeteners were conducted on rats and they were given 2000 times the recommended daily dose!! No wonder they reported negative side effects!!

The research about artificial sweeteners causing weight gain is to do with foods containing them being highly palatable so people tend to eat more of it - so it's a behavioural thing rather than a physics thing if that makes sense?

Thanks @tilestoclean that's reassuring and of course makes sense, you've made me feel a lot better!