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18 April 2025

From Sugar to Sweeteners—And into the Fire?

Noncaloric sweeteners are widely used in foods and beverages to provide a sweet taste without the calories of sucrose. However, some studies suggest that these sweeteners may stimulate appetite—essentially leading from the frying pan into the fire.

Chakravartti and colleagues sought to investigate this by giving 75 young adults a drink containing either sucralose, sucrose, or water. To study the effects, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how the consumed drink affected the hypothalamus—a brain structure that plays a key role in regulating appetite.

Compared to sucrose, consuming the noncaloric sweetener increased blood flow to the hypothalamus and triggered stronger hunger responses. The results highlight the complexity of the neural mechanisms that regulate appetite and indicate that replacing sugar with noncaloric sweeteners is not a straightforward solution to obesity.

Previous thoughts on the same topic:
Shower Taking and Interfering Elephants
Traditional beliefs turned out to be wisdom
Microbial solution to malnutrition?

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