This is why artificial sweeteners make you feel hungry

The researchers at the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research conducted an experiment that found a new system in the brain that senses and integrates the sweetness and energy content of the food that after diet rich in artificial sweetener ‘Sucralose’, stimulated hunger among the observant. During the study, some fruit flies were also exposed to a diet filled with artificial sweetener for more than five days and at the end, they were found to consume 30 per cent more calories.

After the research was over, it was found that within the brain's reward centres, sweet sensation is integrated with energy content. When sweetness versus energy is out of balance for a period of time, the brain recalibrates and increases total calories consumed.

According to researchers, the chronic consumption of artificial sweetener increases the sweet intensity of real nutritive sugar, and this then increases the overall craving to eat more food.

All this while we had been thinking that artificial sweeteners are good, but this research is truly an eye-opener and calls for due care to be taken while consuming sweeteners in order to keep a minute check on the weight.