Discussion of diet soda continues #4

If diet sodas/artificial sweeteners do not have calories, why are they bad for us?  Researchers at the University of Texas San Antonio study think they have insight into this question.  They fed mice aspartame (an artificial sweetener known as Equal) and found after three months, these mice had elevated blood glucose levels similar to diabetes.  This research study can be found at http://www.uthscsa.edu/hscnews/singleformat2.asp?newID=3861 

A study published in 2008 http://eatingdisorders.ucsd.edu/research/imaging/PDFs/2008/frank2008sucrose.pdf

compares how satisfied a woman’s brain would be when she used sucralose (Splenda) vs. sugar.  These women had functional MRI brain tests which showed that sugar gave them an increased satisfaction/reward when compared to sucralose (Splenda).  The researchers concluded “this may suggest that sucralose (Splenda) activates taste reward circuits but may not fully satisfy a desire for natural caloric sweet ingestion.”  This small study gives a suggestion of why artificial sweeteners may not satisfy, but rather trigger a person to want something else to eat.