Trying to kick sugar? Artificial sweeteners may not curb cravings, study suggests

New research shows that the cells in your gut can tell the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners—even if your taste buds are oblivious— providing evidence as to why sugar cravings can be so hard to kick.

New research shows that the cells in your gut can tell the difference between sugar and artificial sweeteners—even if your taste buds are oblivious—and can communicate the difference to your brain in milliseconds, providing evidence as to why sugar cravings can be so hard to kick.

The peer-reviewed research, published on Jan. 13 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, focused on a cell in the gut called the “neuropod,” which plays a critical role in the connection between what’s inside the gut and its influence in the brain.

Researchers say their latest findings suggest that neuropods are sensory cells in the nervous system, acting like taste buds in the tongue or the retinal cone cells in the eye that help us see colours.

“These cells work just like the retinal cone cells that that are able to sense the wavelength of light,” Diego Bohorquez, led researcher with the Duke University School of Medicine, said in a press release.