Effect of sucrose and sweeteners on appetite and energy intake.

The effect of sweetness on appetite control has become important for two reasons. First, the problem of unwanted overconsumption associated with the tendency to gain weight. Second, the desire to lose weight by dieting. Two questions arise: does sweetness (with or without energy) contribute to over-consumption?, and does the replacement of a high energy sweetener (such as sucrose) with an artificial sweetener (such as saccharine or aspartame) lead to weight loss? How do these issues relate to processes involved in weight maintenance?