Research

Hormonal

Acute ingestion of 75g glucose reduces regional cerebral blood flow (CBF) in appetite and reward-regulating brain regions (hypothalamus, striatum, insula), whereas fructose fails to produce this deactivation, suggesting glucose promotes satiety signaling while fructose does not.

Eating 75g of glucose triggers brain signals that reduce activity in areas controlling hunger and reward, promoting a feeling of fullness. Eating the same amount of fructose does not trigger these specific brain satiety signals, which may explain why high-fructose diets are associated with increased food intake and weight gain.

GoodQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
Glucose ingestion (compared with baseline) increased functional connectivity between the hypothalamus and the thalamus and striatum. Fructose increased connectivity between the hypothalamus and thalamus but not the striatum. Regional CBF within the hypothalamus, thalamus, insula, anterior cingulate, and striatum (appetite and reward regions) was reduced after glucose ingestion compared with baseline... In contrast, fructose reduced regional CBF in the thalamus, hippocampus, posterior cingulate cortex, fusiform, and visual cortex.
Kathleen A. Page et al. · JAMA · 2013

Why this rating

Randomized crossover design with healthy volunteers, but small sample size (n=20) and exploratory nature limit generalizability.

Source

Effects of Fructose vs Glucose on Regional Cerebral Blood Flow in Brain Regions Involved With Appetite and Reward Pathways

Kathleen A. Page et al. · JAMA · 2013

DOI 10.1001/jama.2012.116975

crossover · n=20Cited 379×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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