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Smeets, P.A.M.* ; Veit, R. ; Oosterink, E.* ; Meijboom, S.* ; Risso, D.* ; Preissl, H. ; Kullmann, S.

Brain and physiological responses to flavored waters with different sweeteners: A randomized crossover study in healthy young adults.

Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 124:101401 (2026)
Verlagsversion Forschungsdaten DOI PMC
Open Access Hybrid
Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag
Background: Drinks with low-no-calorie sweeteners (LNCSs) do not contribute to energy intake but still provide a hedonic experience through sweetness. LNCS can have differential effects on brain areas involved in food intake and reward compared with sugars. Objectives: This study determined changes in brain activity and the effect on physiological markers following the ingestion of flavored waters sweetened with the sugar sucrose or LNCS. Methods: Thirty healthy individuals participated in a randomized crossover study with 6 treatments. Participants were scanned after an overnight fast using magnetic resonance imaging, including arterial spin labeling to measure cerebral blood flow (CBF), before and after ingestion of 500-mL drinks: water, or equisweet flavored waters with 25 g sucrose, sucralose, stevia extract, allulose+stevia extract, or monk fruit extract. CBF was measured at baseline and 5 and 30 min; gastric content volume was measured at baseline and 25 and 45 min. Serum insulin and glucose were measured, and participants rated their appetite and thirst throughout each visit. Data were analyzed with linear mixed models. Results: Primary: Hypothalamus CBF was not differentially affected by any of the drinks. In the ventral tegmental area (midbrain), treatment effects differed, with lower ΔCBF after sucrose than water, sucralose and monk fruit drink ingestion at 30 min (difference: ∼8% ± 3%; all PFDR < 0.05). Exploratory whole-brain analyses showed increased CBF after consumption for allulose+stevia (amygdala) and stevia (putamen) compared with sucrose (PFWE < 0.05). Despite its low energy content, allulose+stevia delayed gastric emptying similar to sucrose, whereas only sucrose increased glucose and insulin concentrations. Conclusions: Although flavored waters with LNCS mostly elicit similar neural and gastrointestinal responses as water, they have some distinct effects on the brain compared with 25 g of sucrose, particularly in reward-related brain areas. Further exploration of the neural and physiological effects of allulose and stevia and dose-dependent investigations are warranted.This study was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT05575687 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05575687).
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Publikationstyp Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Schlagwörter Appetite ; Brain Imaging ; Cerebral Blood Flow ; Gastric Emptying ; Glucose ; Insulin ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Sweeteners
ISSN (print) / ISBN 0002-9165
e-ISSN 1938-3207
Zeitschrift American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
Quellenangaben Band: 124, Heft: 2, Seiten: , Artikelnummer: 101401 Supplement: ,
Verlag American Society for Nutrition
Begutachtungsstatus Peer reviewed
Institut(e) Institute of Diabetes Research and Metabolic Diseases (IDM)