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In the quest for healthier sugar alternatives, researchers from the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and other Chinese institutes explored the neural responses to various sweeteners, including stevia, in mice.

Published in Neuroscience Research, their findings propose stevia as a promising sugar substitute with brain-compatibility resembling sucrose.

Lead researcher Yingjie Zhu highlighted the global obesity crisis and the rising trend of sweetener usage in the food industry. Their study aimed to uncover if specific brain regions could discern differences between sugar substitutes and sucrose.

"Obesity is a significant issue worldwide, and the use of sweeteners as a substitute for sucrose is a current trend in the food industry," Yingjie Zhu, co-author of the paper, told Medical Xpress.

"Although they all possess sweetness, many sugar substitutes have noticeable differences compared to sucrose when consumed. Therefore, our initial idea was to investigate whether there would be a specific brain region in the central nervous system that could reflect the differences between these sugar substitutes and sucrose in real-time."

Stevia, derived from South American plant leaves, is renowned for its intense sweetness and minimal impact on blood glucose levels. The study focused on assessing how mice brains responded to prolonged consumption of stevia compared to sugar and other sweeteners like xylitol, glycyrrhizin, and mogroside.

Using in vivo fluorescence calcium imaging, the team monitored the activity of neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) in mice fed various sweeteners over six weeks. Remarkably, stevia intake elicited PVT activity akin to sugar consumption, indicating its potential as a brain-compatible sugar substitute.

"We found that, given an abundance of food supply, compared to other sugar substitutes, the activity in the PVT brain region induced by stevia was most similar to that induced by sucrose," Zhu explained.

This suggests that stevia could potentially be the most brain-compatible sugar substitute. Therefore, in the relevant food and beverage industries, stevia should receive more attention."

Zhu also emphasized that stevia's similarity to sugar in neural responses suggests its viability as a healthier alternative. The study's findings may encourage food and beverage industries to consider incorporating stevia to mitigate calorie intake.

Looking ahead, Zhu expressed interest in exploring stevia's effects on the human brain using fMRI technology.