The Study
The GI system is
believed to contain sweet taste receptors that have an important impact on satiety
and hunger. In this interesting study, 12 healthy young men and women had each
of the following preloads injected directly into their stomach on separate
occasions: 1) 50 grams of glucose 2) 25 grams of fructose 3) 220 mg acesulfame-K,
which is a non-nutritive sweetener. Visual analogue scales were used to rate
subjective feelings of hunger and satiety. Compared to glucose and fructose,
the non-nutritive sweetener initially caused a significantly stronger decrease
in hunger and increase in satiety. However, this was followed by a
significantly steeper return of hunger. American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2018; 107:707.
Take Home Message
When I first
started studying nutrition, the prevailing wisdom was that weight loss was all
about calories in versus calories out. We now know that there is so much more
to the story. A huge number of factors influence when and what we eat.
Receptors in the GI system are now thought to play a big part. This is a
fascinating study. It utilizes my
favorite study design, the crossover trial. In this type of study, each subject
receives all interventions on separate occasions and acts as their own control.
This really reduces the odds of residual confounding impacting the results.
In this study, the
artificial sweetener caused a significantly greater return to hunger when
compared to the calorie containing sugars.
A diet soda or sugar-free dessert is a nice treat for those giving up
sugar. However, it is a good idea to limit consumption of artificial sweeteners
to just a few times per week. Daily use of non-nutritive sweeteners can have a
dramatic effect on hunger and cravings for refined carbs. A few servings per
week are not a problem, but daily consumption can really slow weight loss.
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