Artificial sweeteners have harmful side-effects and they do not help overweight people to lose weight.

Artificial sweeteners are very cheap to produce and so are very profitable to the manufacturers who add them to their food and drink products. They are 'dieting' products, marketed with the claim that by reducing the calorie content in a product they will assist overweight consumers to lose excess weight, but this claim is false. Not only is it false, but some of the sweeteners - most notably Aspartame and the new sweetener kid on the block, Neotame, a relative of Aspartame - interfere very profoundly with the intricate biochemistry of the body, risking serious and permanent health side-effects. These include neurological damage, increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and more. If you value your health and the health of your family, as I am sure you do, I advise you to check the nutritional information on packs carefully, and to avoid artificial sweeteners. There are many internet sources of warning information about these unsafe substances. The very informative article I have been reading today is Dr Mercola's article.
And here is a safe, sure way to lose excess weight.