How organisms distinguish between real sugar, artificial sweetener

A new study has provided a deeper insight into how organisms distinguish between real sugar and artificial sweetener.

A researcher at the University of Michigan has discovered how the brain of a fruit fly differentiates between the two. Because that molecular machinery is present in the guts and brains of humans on a larger scale, Monica Dus, assistant professor in the U-M Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, believes human brains will differentiate in the same way.

For the study, researchers deprived the fruit flies of food for several hours and then gave them a choice between diet, non-nutritive sweeteners and real sugar. After the flies licked the real sugar, it activated a group of six neurons that released a hormone with receptors in both the gut and brain.

A hormone was released during this process, letting the fly know that it was receiving nuritionment. On the other hand, when it licked the diet sweetener, the same hormone/digestive reaction did not occur. Furthermore, throughout the study, the flies always abandoned the sweetener for the real thing.

If our brains work in a similar way, this may explain why many diet foods seem less satisfying to some people, potentially resulting in weight gain.

The study is published in the journal Neuron.