NOT a fan of artificial sweeteners?
While many people report liking non-nutritive sweeteners as much as sugar, others prefer the real deal.
However, a new study suggests it may help if you're in the dark.
Researchers found that by telling people an artificially sweetened drink contained sugar, they enjoyed it more - and conversely, when told a sugar-sweetened drink contained sugar substitutes, they enjoyed it less.
The team also monitored brain activity during the experiment, where they found increased activation of a brain area related to reward when participants falsely expected an artificially sweetened drink to contain sugar - and this activity was greater than when told that it contained sugar substitutes.
"If we emphasise that healthier food alternatives are 'nutrient rich', or have 'minimal added sugars', this may create more positive expectations than using terms like 'diet' or 'low calorie'," they suggested.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 03 Mar 26
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