A new study has found that certain types of sugars are likely to contribute to you overeating, because of the effect they have on the brain registering that “full” feeling.
The research, published in The Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences Journal, found that fructose is more likely than any other sugar to leave people feeling less full, therefore contributing to poor self control and excess eating. (Post continues after gallery.)
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Using a focus group of 24 participants, the US study aimed to investigate how our bodies process sugar and the effects that different sugars have on the brain.
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Half the group were asked to consume glucose-based beverages while the other half had fructose based drinks.
Insulin levels, along with blood hormone tests, were used to measure the effect of the sugar on the body. The research team then analysed the brain’s responses to the sugar using brain activity scans and sensory stimuli being images of high energy foods.
Participants were then offered the choice of having the food they had seen immediately, or delaying their reward and taking monetary payment later.
On average, those than consumed the fructose were more willing to forego the cash in exchange for being allowed to consume the food on the spot. One person even rejected an offer of $20 in order to be allowed to eat the food he had seen on the screen.
Kathleen Page, a Dr and Professor of Medicine at the School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, says that the study shows how fructose may encourage “feeding behaviour” as the brain has not registered the idea of having just eaten, despite the individual absorbing the calories associated with the food.
