Erythritol, sucrose, and sucralose elicit similar reward responses after flavor preference learning in healthy humans.

Utilizing artificial low-caloric sweeteners as sugar alternatives remains controversial, as they provide sweet taste and the associated rewarding responses but fail to stimulate satiation. Erythritol, a non-caloric bulk sweetener, is able to stimulate the release of gastrointestinal (GI) satiation hormones, yet its influence on reward responses is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate reward responses to erythritol, sucrose, and sucralose during and after flavor preference learning, and to explore the potential involvement of GI satiation hormones. In this randomized, double-blind, crossover study, 20 healthy participants (10 women, 10 men; mean ± SD; age: 25.8 ± 7.5 years, BMI: 22.3 ± 1.8 kg/m2) rated the reward responses (explicit wanting and liking) of three novel, neutral flavored beverages before and after pairing with erythritol, sucrose, or sucralose. GI satiation hormones (cholecystokinin, glucagon-like peptide-1) and parameters of glycemic control (glucose, insulin) were measured. After conditioning, explicit wanting and liking ratings increased, with no differences between the sweeteners. The release of GI satiation hormones and changes in glucose and insulin concentrations had no effect on the reward responses, which therefore might not be associated with flavor-nutrient learning (FNL) but rather with flavor-flavor learning (FFL). To conclude, beverages previously paired with erythritol appear to be equally liked as sucrose and sucralose.