THE SWEET and the NOT-SO-SWEET

NEW RESEARCH SUGGESTS THE ARTIFICIAL SWEETENER SUCRALOSE COULD TRICK YOUR BRAIN INTO THINKING YOU'RE HUNGRY AND MAKE YOU CRAVE HIGH-CALORIE FOODS.

- KATIE GIBBONS

When you're watching your weight but you have a sweet tooth, it may be tempting to buy diet cool drinks and reduced-sugar and sugar-free foods, many of which are sweetened with sucralose. But a US research team now says this artificial sweetener may have an unintended consequence: increasing your appetite.

Drinking artificially sweetened drinks may trick the brain into feeling hungry, which may, in turn, result in more calories being consumed,' says Dr Kathleen Page, the corresponding author of a recent study done at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. The article was published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open.

The researchers set out to examine the effects of sucralose on brain activity and appetite responses in different segments of the population. They found that in response to a drink sweetened with sucralose, the area of the brain responsible for food cravings and appetite became highly active in women and in people with obesity.

Another finding was that leptin the hormone that makes you feel full - decreased after having a sucralose-sweetened drink in both men and women no matter their weight.