Integration of sweet taste and metabolism determines carbohydrate reward

Behavioral data for manuscript "Integration of sweet taste and metabolism determines carbohydrate reward Maria Geraldine Veldhuizen1,2†, Richard Keith Babbs1,,2†, Barkha Patel1,2,, Wambura Fobbs1, Nils B Kroemer 1-3 , Elizabeth Garcia1,2, Martin R. Yeomans4, and Dana M Small1,2,* 1 The John B. Pierce Laboratory, 290 Congress Ave, New Haven, CT 06519, United States. 2 Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT 06511, United States. 3 School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN1 9QH, UK. 4 Department of General Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Calwerstr. 14, University of Tübingen, 72076 Tübingen, Germany *Lead contact & corresponding author: [e-mail] Summary Post-ingestive signals related to nutrient metabolism are thought to be the primary drivers of reinforcement potency of energy sources. Here, in a series of neuroimaging and indirect calorimetry human studies, we examine the relative roles of caloric load and perceived sweetness in driving metabolic, perceptual and brain responses to sugared beverages. Whereas caloric load was manipulated using the tasteless carbohydrate maltodextrin, sweetness levels were manipulated using the non-nutritive sweetener sucralose. By formulating beverages that contain different amounts of maltodextrin+sucralose, we demonstrate a non-linear association between caloric load, metabolic response and reinforcement potency, which is driven in part by the extent to which sweetness is proportional to caloric load. In particular, we show that (1) lower calorie beverages can produce greater metabolic response and condition greater brain response and liking than higher calorie beverages and (2) when sweetness is proportional to caloric load greater metabolic responses are observed. These results demonstrate a non-linear association between caloric load and reward and describe an unanticipated role for sweet taste in regulating carbohydrate metabolism, revealing a novel mechanism by which sugar-sweetened beverages influence physiological responses to carbohydrate ingestion.