Consuming sucralose, a popular sugar substitute, could alter your brain activity to increase your appetite, a new study found.

Since alternatives to sugar are so popular, researchers at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine wanted to look at how the substances impact the brain. They recently published the results of their study in the journal Nature Metabolism.

The study focused on sucralose, more commonly known under the brand Splenda – although the study does not specify that brand was used.

Participants in the study were given water, a drink sweetened with sucralose and a drink sweetened with sugar. Then, they were examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans, blood samples and hunger ratings before and after consuming the drinks.

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Researchers said sucralose increased participants’ feelings of hunger and activity in the hypothalamus, a brain region that regulates appetite and body weight. The study found this was more common in people with obesity.

The sucralose also changed the way the hypothalamus communicated with other brain regions, the study said.

But, unlike sugar, sucralose did not increase blood levels of certain hormones that create a feeling of fullness.

“The findings show how sucralose confuses the brain by providing a sweet taste without the expected caloric energy,” said Dr.Kathleen Alanna Page, author of the study and director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute. “This ‘mismatch’ could even trigger changes in cravings and eating behavior down the line.”

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