Dr. Charles Zuker

It only knows that you tasted it.

This knows that it got to the point that it's going to be used, which is the gut.

And now it sends the signal to now reinforce

the consumption of this thing, because this is the one that I needed, sugar, source of energy.

So these are gut cells that recognize the sugar molecule, send a signal, and that signal is received by the vagal neuron directly.

Got it.

And it sends a signal through the gut brain access to the cell bodies of these neurons in the vagal ganglia.

And from there to the brainstem,

to now trigger the preference for sugar.

You see, you want the brain to know that you had successful ingestion and breakdown of whatever you consume into the building blocks of life.

And you know, glucose, amino acids, fat.

And so you want to make sure that once they are in the form that the intestines can now absorb them, is where you get the signal back saying, this is what I want, okay?

Now, let me just take it one step further.

This now sugar molecules activates this unique gut brain circuit that now drives the development of our preference for sugar.

A key element of this circuit

is that the sensors in the gut that recognize the sugar do not recognize artificial sweeteners.

It's a completely different molecule that only recognizes the glucose molecule, not artificial sweeteners.

This has a profound impact on the effect of ultimately artificial sweeteners in curbing our appetite

our craving, our insatiable desire for sugar.

Since they don't activate the gut-brain axis, they'll never satisfy the craving for sugar like sugar does.