(Image Source: Stanford Medicine)

BY JIAXI LU

ANCHOR JENNIFER MECKLES

You're watching multisource health video news analysis from Newsy.

Looking to lose weight?
A new study says -- sticking with naturally low-fat, unprocessed foods like whole grains instead of those synthetic “fake fat” substitutes is your best bet.
ABC explains.

“Researchers at Purdue University had divided rats into two different groups. Here’s what happened. One group was fed potato chips high in fat and calories, and the other group a combination of high and low calorie chips made with the fat substitute olestra. Now researchers found the rats that ate both types of chips ate more, and gained more weight, and developed more fatty tissue.“

A dietary expert tells WMAR how fat substitutes interfere with the body's ability to regulate what we eat and might EVEN force the body to turn more calories into fat.

“So the study was done with a fat substitute which seems like fat to us but there's no fat calories. The same researchers did similar studies on rats years ago with sugar and sugar substitutes. Same idea. If our body senses we are getting something sweet but the calories are never delivered, there's chance we are confusing and throwing off the way we naturally regulate calories and metabolism.”

Still stuck on idea of a low-fat diet? The Stanford Medicine’s medical write says -- it’s not all bad!

“Synthetic fat substitutes only seem to promote weight gain when consumed as part of a high-fat diet. Low-fat dieters...are safe from fat substitutes’ greasy grasp: the rats that were fed a low-fat diet didn’t experience significant weight gain from either type of potato chips.”

Scientists say biological food responses in rats and humans are surprisingly alike, which means similar reactions after we eat fake fat and sugar. And a Forbes blogger believes the study results point to rising obesity rates in the US.

“Considering the increase in use of these fat and sugar substitutes over the last couple decades–and the well-documented rise in obesity over the same time period–the correlation merits attention.”

Susan E. Swithers, the lead researcher and a Purdue psychology professor published the study online in the APA journal Behavioral Neuroscience. Swithers says there’s no silver bullet for dieters to drop a size.

Swithers -- “Eating food which is naturally low in fat and calories may be a better route than relying on fat substitutes or artificial sweeteners.”

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Transcript by Newsy.