A new research has revealed that 'energy less' artificial sweeteners are unable to satisfy the sugar craving of the body, and instead make people more desperate to gorge on sugary snacks.
According to the research, our pleasure in consuming sweet solutions is driven to a great extent by the amount of energy it provides: greater reward in the brain is attributed to sugars compared to artificial sweeteners.
Professor Ivan de Araujo, who led the study at Yale University School of Medicine USA, said that the consumption of high-calorie beverages is a major contributor to weight gain and obesity, even after the introduction of artificial sweeteners to the market.
"We believe that the discovery is important because it shows how physiological states may impact on our choices between sugars and sweeteners," Araujo said.
Specifically, it implies that humans frequently ingesting low-calorie sweet products in a state of hunger or exhaustion may be more likely to 'relapse' and choose high calorie alternatives in the future, Araujo asserted.
Araujo added that the results of the study suggest that a 'happy medium' could be a solution, which would combine sweeteners with minimal amounts of sugar so that energy metabolism doesn't drop, while caloric intake is kept to a minimum.
The study was published in the Journal of Physiology.
