Do Diet Drinks Trick Your Tummy? New Research Explains Why You Might Feel More Hungry

Have you ever had a drink that tastes super sweet but doesn’t have any sugar? These are often called diet drinks, and lots of people, including some kids, choose them when they want something sweet without the sugar that’s in regular sodas or juices. These drinks use special ingredients called artificial sweeteners to make them taste sugary, even though they don’t have many or any calories.1 It might seem like a good idea to pick a diet drink if you want a sweet treat, but new research is starting to show that these drinks might have some surprising effects on our bodies.

One of the cool things about artificial sweeteners is that they are incredibly sweet – much, much sweeter than the sugar you might sprinkle on your cereal.2 Imagine a superhero whose superpower is making things taste sweet! Just a tiny drop of this superhero’s power could make something taste as sugary as a whole spoonful of real sugar. That’s kind of how artificial sweeteners work. For example, one common artificial sweetener is called sucralose, and you might find it in things like Splenda.1 These sweeteners can trick your tongue into thinking you’re tasting sugar, but they don’t always give your body the same kind of energy that sugar does. This difference between tasting sweet and getting energy is where things can get a little confusing for our bodies.

Our bodies have a fantastic system for knowing when we need to eat and when we’ve had enough. It’s like having a food alarm system in your body! Your stomach and your brain work together to make sure you get the right amount of fuel. When your stomach is empty, it sends signals to your brain to let you know you’re hungry.3 There’s a special part of your brain, kind of like the control center for food, called the hypothalamus.1 This “food control center” receives messages from your stomach and also pays attention to the food you eat. When you eat something sweet that has sugar, your body gets energy, which we call calories. This energy sends signals to your brain saying, “Okay, we’re getting the fuel we need now!” So, usually, when something tastes sweet and sugary, it means your body is also getting some energy.

But what happens when something tastes sweet but doesn’t have the energy your body expects? This is where diet drinks come in. New research is looking at whether drinking these sweet, no-sugar drinks could actually make us feel hungrier.1 Think of it like this: imagine you smell your favorite cookies baking, and you get really excited for a treat. But then you find out they’re just pretend cookies made of plastic! Your brain might feel a little tricked, right? Some scientists think that diet drinks might trick our brains in a similar way when it comes to food. Our brains expect that sweet taste to come with energy, and when it doesn’t, it might get a little confused.

Recently, some scientists at the University of Southern California (USC) did a study to learn more about this.1 They looked at how diet drinks with that sweetener called sucralose affected people. They used special machines that can take pictures of what’s happening inside the brain, called fMRI scans.1 The scientists found some interesting things. People who drank the sucralose drink said they felt hungrier compared to when they drank a drink with regular sugar.1 Also, the part of their brain that controls hunger, the hypothalamus, became more active after they drank the sucralose.1 It seemed like the sucralose was making that part of the brain work harder.

Even more interesting, the scientists found that sucralose seemed to change how the hypothalamus talked to other parts of the brain that are involved in wanting food and making decisions about eating.1 This effect was even stronger in people who were already carrying extra weight.1 One of the scientists who led the study, Dr. Kathleen Page, explained that the sweet taste from sucralose without the expected energy might confuse the brain. She said that if your body expects to get calories because something tastes sweet but doesn’t get them, it could change the way your brain wants those kinds of foods later on.1 This study gives us a clearer picture of how a common artificial sweetener can actually make people feel hungrier and change activity in the brain areas that control our appetite. It suggests that the “mismatch” between sweet taste and the lack of calories is a key reason behind this effect. The fact that this effect was stronger in people with obesity might mean that their bodies respond differently to artificial sweeteners.

Our bodies also use special helpers called hormones to tell us when we’re full after eating sugary foods.1 These hormones act like messengers, sending signals to our brain that say, “Hey, we’ve had enough fuel now!” Two examples of these helpful hormones are insulin and GLP-1.1 The USC study also looked at these hormones and found that when people drank the sucralose drink, their bodies didn’t release these “fullness” hormones in the same way they did after drinking a sugary drink.1 It’s like the usual signal that tells your brain you’re getting satisfied wasn’t as strong. This lack of the usual hormonal response could be another reason why people might feel hungrier after drinking diet drinks. If the body doesn’t get the signal that it’s getting energy, the brain might think it needs more food.

Now, it’s important to know that sucralose is just one type of artificial sweetener. There are others, like aspartame, stevia, and neotame.2 Scientists are still learning about how each of these different sweeteners affects our bodies, and some studies have shown different results. For example, a group of scientists called the SWEET consortium did a study where they looked at some other sweeteners, like stevia and neotame. They found that in some adults, these sweeteners didn’t increase hunger and might even help lower blood sugar.18 This is different from what the USC study found with sucralose. It shows that not all artificial sweeteners might have the same effect on how hungry we feel. Scientists are still working to understand all the different ways these sweeteners can affect our bodies.28

To help understand the different findings, here’s a simple table comparing the two studies:

So, what does all this mean for kids? Well, the new research suggests that diet drinks that use sucralose might trick your tummy into feeling hungrier. This doesn’t mean you can never have one, but it’s something to think about. It’s always a great idea to drink plenty of water to stay healthy.16 Regular sugary drinks aren’t the best choice either because of all the sugar they contain. The best thing to do is to talk to your parents or guardians about making healthy choices when it comes to drinks. Remember, this is still new research, and scientists are learning more all the time.4

In conclusion, it seems like diet drinks, especially those with sucralose, might not be the hunger-fighting heroes we once thought they were. They could actually make you feel like eating more! It’s important to listen to your body and notice how you feel after drinking different things. And remember, good old water is always a fantastic choice for staying healthy and feeling your best.

Citations:

• Chakravartti, S. P., Jann, K., Veit, R., Liu, H., Yunker, A. G., Angelo, B., Monterosso, J. R., Xiang, A. H., Kullmann, S., & Page, K. A. (2025). Non-caloric sweetener effects on brain appetite regulation in individuals across varying body weights. Nature Metabolism. 1
• Is Your Diet Drink Making You Hungrier? New Research Explains Why. (2025, March 30). SciTechDaily. 1
• Calorie-free sweeteners can disrupt the brain’s appetite signals. (2025, March 26). Keck School of Medicine of USC. 4
• CNN: Artificial Sweetener Found in Diet Drinks Linked to Brain Changes That Increase Appetite, Study Finds. (2025, March 29). Monell Chemical Senses Center. 29
• Diet soda may prompt food cravings, (NPR News). (n.d.). National Institutes of Health (NIH). 30
• Assessing the impact of sweeteners on appetite. (2024, March 29). University of Leeds. 18
• Acute and two-week effects of neotame, stevia rebaudioside M and sucrose-sweetened biscuits on postprandial appetite and endocrine response in adults with overweight/obesity—a randomised crossover trial from the SWEET consortium. (2024). The Lancet eBioMedicine, 28, 101753. 27
• NHS website. (2023, February 20). Are sweeteners safe? 31
• Wolf, J. (2024, June 11). Think Diet Soda Is a Healthy Choice? Think Again. University Hospitals. 16
• Hardy, A. (2025, February). An Update on Nonnutritive Sweeteners. Today’s Dietitian, 27(2), 14. 2

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