The zero-calorie beverage you use as a cessation tool to help you cut back on sugar might be harming your body and brain. According to new research, sucralose, the sweetener found in Splenda, might make you feel hungrier than you are.

A study published in Nature Metabolism found that when participants drank a beverage sweetened with sucralose, it caused increased blood flow to the hypothalamus, a brain region that controls hunger. Drinking regular sugar led to a reduced desire to eat and even decreased blood flow to the hypothalamus.

Sucralose, one of the artificial sweeteners so many of us have embraced to avoid unnecessary fat and calories, might make people hungrier, which makes them take in more calories. Good old-fashioned regular sugar, on the other hand, made people feel more satisfied.  

Splenda Might Be Making You Feel Hungrier

Sucralose doesn’t trigger the usual hormonal response you’d get from sugar, like insulin or GLP-1, which tells your body that it’s got its fill. This confuses your brain, setting the stage for some near-future bingeing.

The study involved 75 adults within the economically fawned-over 18 to 35 demographic. They drank a randomized set of beverages, all of which were an unsweetened cherry flavor. Some days they drank a beverage with regular sugar, on others they drank plain water, and on others, they drank a beverage sweetened with sucralose.

All of them received blood tests and brain scans before and after the trial, which found that long-term sucralose consumption might mess with how your brain processes hunger signals. The effects were much more pronounced in participants who were obese.

Sugar substitutes have been taking a beating from the scientific community in recent years. Once considered harmless, sugar substitutes like sucralose have been linked to DNA damage, along with changing your gut microbiome in unpleasant ways while impairing glucose tolerance.

Study supervisor endocrinologist Kathleen Alanna Page from the University of Southern California says that she and her team will now turn their focus on the effects of artificial sweeteners on the brains of children.