Study: Fructose Intake Creates Cravings for Junk Food

07 May 2015 --- A US study focusing on people who drank beverages sweetened with glucose found that they then went on to consumer more biscuits and sweets than those who didn’t have the drinks.

Researchers at the University of Southern California got 24 volunteers to consumer a sugary drink sweetened with fructose. The next day the same volunteers were given a glucose-sweetened drink, but the participants were not told what was in each drink.

Compared with glucose, the fructose drink led to more hunger and desire for treats such as biscuits and sweets, suggesting that different sugars may affect us differently. 

The participants underwent brain scans after consuming the drinks, and they were then shown pictures of various foods.

The brain scans showed that people responded more strongly to photos of food if they had been drinking fructose, rather than glucose. Respondents also reported more food cravings after consuming fructose. 

Fructose and glucose contain the same energy or calories but the body breaks down sugar in different ways, and the researchers believe this may explain their findings.