Sucralose and brain activity during food decisions
What it found
In 28 people, a single sucralose drink slightly lowered bids for food and reduced brain activity in food-cue regions about an hour later.
Glucose showed a similar but weaker pattern.
What they found
Studies in people
Food bids
People bid slightly less money for food after sucralose (16.6% lower) and after glucose (13.0% lower) compared with water. The overall drink effect was borderline, and the differences from water were also borderline.
Brain food-cue activity
Brain activity in regions that respond to food pictures was lower after sucralose than after water. After glucose, activity in these regions did not differ significantly from water or sucralose.
Hunger ratings
About 90 minutes after drinking, hunger rose less after glucose than after sucralose or water. Right after drinking, hunger did not differ between the drinks.
Sweet craving
Craving for something sweet increased over the session, but the type of drink made no difference to that increase.
Brain activity and bids
Across all drinks, higher activity in certain brain regions, including the medial orbitofrontal cortex and frontal pole, predicted higher bids for food. Drink type did not change this link.
Drink taste
People rated both the glucose and sucralose drinks as sweeter and more pleasant than water. They rated the glucose and sucralose drinks similarly for sweetness and pleasantness.
What the authors conclude
“Collectively, the findings provide evidence that at approximately 1-h post consumption, sucralose reduces CNS activity associated with food valuation.”
Also in their conclusions
- They say the findings provide evidence that about an hour after consumption, sucralose reduces central nervous system activity linked to food valuation.
- They note that it is possible acute effects could lead to lower energy intake over time, but the link to regular sucralose use is not clear.
- They call for future work to investigate this possible connection and to identify the signaling mechanism behind the effects.
How it was done
The authors wanted to see how a single sucralose or glucose drink changes brain signaling when people decide about food. They hoped this might give clues about appetite control and obesity.
Twenty-eight volunteers each came to three morning sessions after an overnight fast. They drank 300 mL of cherry-flavored water with either 75 g glucose, 0.24 g sucralose, or nothing else, then had brain scans while bidding on pictures of food about 55 minutes later.
What it can’t tell you
- This was a small study of 28 people, so the results may not be reliable or apply to everyone.
- The study only looked at a single drink and a single time point, so it cannot show what happens with regular sucralose consumption.
- The scans cannot show whether these brain changes would actually change how much people eat over time.
Who paid
- Funding
- Funded by NIDDK NIH HHS; NIDA NIH HHS; NCATS NIH HHS; NIH HHS (from the PubMed record).
- Conflicts
- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Authors work at
- University of Southern California, USA
The paper
- Title
- Impacts of Acute Sucralose and Glucose on Brain Activity during Food Decisions in Humans
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Zhang X, Luo S, Jones S, Hsu E, Page KA, Monterosso JR (2020). Impacts of Acute Sucralose and Glucose on Brain Activity during Food Decisions in Humans. Nutrients. doi:10.3390/nu12113283Free full textPubMed 33120899DOI
Summary written 26 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error