You’re trying to lose weight–but persistent hunger pangs make it hard to stay on track.
Is there truly a way to stop it?
According to a new study from the University of Southern California, there is–by avoiding a common, everyday sweetener.
Dr. Kathleen Page, who led the new study, reveals that fructose–commonly used in the form of high-fructose corn syrup–suppresses a part of the brain that controls appetite, making it harder to stop eating. It also affects the part of the brain that motivates us to say “no” to food, something that can ruin a diet fast.
“In a series of studies we have found that when compared to glucose, the simple sugar, fructose, is a weaker suppressor of brain areas that help control appetite and the motivation to eat,” says Page, who is an assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. “Recent investigations have also suggested that only glucose, not fructose, curtails hunger by slowing down activity in a specific region of the brain (the hypothalamus).”
The study, which was presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, examined 24 men and women to see how certain sugars, such as fructose, affected their ability to resist food. To do so, all participants were hooked up to a magnetic resonance imaging scanner, or MRI, while researchers gave them beverages either containing glucose or fructose, types of sugars. From there, researchers exposed them to images of tempting foods and asked them to rate how much it made them hungry.
After the study, the participants confirmed their suspicions–fructose made them hungrier. Looking at scans of their brains with an MRI, they also found that fructose activated parts of the brain that drive hunger, meaning their desire to eat wasn’t just a psychological matter–it was a physical one as well.
However, researchers caution these findings are preliminary.
“More work is needed before broad conclusions can be drawn about how sweeteners in manufactured food products actually influence hunger and the overall risk for obesity,” says Page.
On the contrary, however, the Corn Refiners Association disputes these claims, noting that people often don’t consume these sugars in such large quantities. However, their criticisms are also dubious, considering the association has been pushing for more high fructose corn syrup use regardless of the scientific evidence presented.
“The subjects in this study were given large amounts of pure fructose and pure glucose separately, which almost never occurs outside a laboratory setting,” says the Corn Refiners Association in a statement. “While those who received pure fructose may have reacted as if they were less sated, these study conditions did not correspond to anything like a natural setting in which people normally would be consuming roughly equal amounts of glucose in combination at the same time.”
Bottom line? While more proof is needed, it’s definitely not a stretch to say that fructose could make you hungrier–and trigger food binges.
What You Should Do
Want to lose weight? Fructose food products could make it harder. To keep weight loss high, try cutting out any foods that contain fructose–something you’ll commonly find in processed foods.
Readers: How often do you eat processed foods?
Sources:
Can High-Fructose Corn Syrup Make You Hungrier? – WebMD.com
Do Foods With Fructose Make You Hungrier? – YouthHealthMag.com
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