Sweet lies: how the sweetener sucralose tricks your brain and increases hunger - and consequently weight gain and cellulite
Sucralose vs. sucrose (sugar)
How sucralose affects hypothalamic blood flow vs. sugar
Body weight impact on hypothalamic response to sucralose
Blood glucose and hunger: sucrose vs. sucralose effects
Sucralose and brain connectivity: hypothalamus insights
Why sucralose might increase hunger via hypothalamus and consequently lead to weight gain
Non-caloric sweeteners, weight management and dieting
Sucralose, hypothalamus, and weight control takeaways
Sucralose could make cellulite worse
Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights
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Sucralose vs. sucrose (sugar)
In recent years, many people have turned to non-caloric sweeteners like sucralose to enjoy sweet tastes without adding calories to their diet.
These sweeteners are popular for weight management, but there’s growing debate about whether they might actually affect hunger and health in unexpected ways. This study explores how sucralose impacts the brain’s appetite control compared to regular sugar (sucrose) and water.
The research focuses on a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which helps regulate hunger, and examines how it reacts differently in people with varying body weights - healthy weight, overweight, and obese - and how it can indirectly affect cellulite.
How sucralose affects hypothalamic blood flow vs. sugar
The researchers wanted to see how the brain responds to sweetness with and without calories. They chose sucralose, a non-caloric sweetener that tastes sweet but provides no energy, and compared it to sucrose, which is regular sugar with calories, and plain water.
The study involved 75 young adults aged 18-35, split into three groups based on their body mass index (BMI): healthy weight, overweight, and obese. Each participant drank three different drinks on separate days: one with 75 grams of sucrose, one with sucralose (matched to taste as sweet as the sucrose drink), and one with just water.
The order was random, and participants didn’t know which drink they were getting each time.
Body weight impact on hypothalamic response to sucralose
To study the brain’s reaction, the researchers used a special brain scan called MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), specifically a type called arterial spin labelling (ASL), to measure blood flow in the hypothalamus.
More blood flow can mean more activity in that brain area, often linked to hunger. They also checked blood glucose levels and asked participants to rate their hunger before and after drinking.
Blood glucose and hunger: sucrose vs. sucralose effects
The study found that after drinking sucralose, there was a bigger increase in hypothalamic blood flow compared to both sucrose and water. This was especially strong in the lateral hypothalamus, a part tied to feeling hungry.
Sucralose seemed to “wake up” the hunger centre more than sugar or plain water - especially in the overweight people.
Sucralose and brain connectivity: hypothalamus insights
For people with healthy weight, the hypothalamus showed a bigger reaction to sucralose compared to sucrose
For people with obesity, the reaction was stronger when comparing sucralose to water
This suggests that overweight and obese people react to sucralose with even more hunger than people with normal body weight.
Why sucralose might increase hunger via hypothalamus and consequently lead to weight gain
Drinking sucrose raised blood glucose levels, which lowered hunger and reduced blood flow in the medial hypothalamus, a part linked to feeling full.
Sucralose, however, didn’t raise blood glucose and made people feel hungrier than sucrose did, though hunger was about the same as after water. Basically, sugar gave energy and calmed hunger, while sucralose didn’t.
Sucralose also increased functional connectivity - how the hypothalamus “talks” to other brain areas - compared to sucrose and water. It linked more with regions involved in motivation (like wanting food) and sensory processing (like tasting or sensing food), which might make people crave food more.
Non-caloric sweeteners, weight management and dieting
Imagine your hypothalamus as a hunger control centre in your brain. When you eat something sweet with calories, like sucrose, your body gets energy, and the brain says, “Okay, I’m satisfied,” calming hunger.
But with sucralose, it’s like pressing a “sweet” button without giving the energy your brain expects. This might confuse the hypothalamus, making it more active and possibly increasing hunger.
The study suggests that non-caloric sweeteners could trick your brain into wanting more food, rather than less. The differences by body weight are interesting too.
People with healthy weight showed a stronger brain reaction when sucralose was compared to sucrose, while obese individuals reacted more when it was compared to water.
This hints that how your brain responds to sucralose might depend on your body size, which could affect weight control strategies.
Sucralose, hypothalamus, and weight control takeaways
This study shows that sucralose, a non-caloric sweetener, affects the hypothalamus - and hunger - differently than sucrose or water. It increases brain activity linked to hunger, doesn’t raise blood glucose, and might make you feel hungrier than sugar does.
These effects vary depending on whether you’re healthy weight, overweight, or obese, suggesting personal factors matter.
Sucralose could make cellulite worse
Sucralose’s impact on cellulite isn’t directly studied, but this research offers clues.
Unlike sucrose, sucralose doesn’t raise blood glucose or satisfy hunger, instead boosting hypothalamic activity and appetite. This could lead to overeating, potentially increasing fat stores and worsening cellulite’s appearance over time.
However, its zero-calorie nature might keep fat gain neutral if intake stays controlled, leaving cellulite unchanged.
Overall, sucralose and other sweeteners might make cellulite worse indirectly by driving hunger - and it definitely does not help reduce or prenent cellulite.
Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights
Research paper link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s42255-025-01227-8
Abstract: Sucralose, a widely used non-caloric sweetener, provides sweet taste without calories. Some studies suggest that non-caloric sweeteners stimulate appetite, possibly owing to the delivery of a sweet taste without the post-ingestive metabolic signals that normally communicate with the hypothalamus to suppress hunger. In a randomized crossover trial 75 young adults (healthy weight, overweight or with obesity) consumed a drink containing sucralose, sweetness-matched sucrose or water. We show that acute consumption of sucralose versus sucrose stimulates hypothalamic blood flow (P < 0.018) and greater hunger responses (P < 0.001). Sucralose versus water also increases hypothalamic blood flow (P < 0.019) but produces no difference in hunger ratings. Sucrose, but not sucralose, increases peripheral glucose levels, which are associated with reductions in medial hypothalamic blood flow (P < 0.007). Sucralose, compared to sucrose and water, results in increased functional connections between the hypothalamus and brain regions involved in motivation and somatosensory processing. These findings suggest that non-caloric sweeteners could affect key mechanisms in the hypothalamus responsible for appetite regulation.
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