Sugar

Scientists recently discovered the liver releases a hormone to suppress consumption of sweet foods once a person has consumed high volumes of sugar. A new study has homed in on exactly how this mechanism works, and where in the brain it takes place.

Researchers at the University of Michigan have conducted studies in fruit flies and found that excess amounts of sugar can shut down crucial neural circuits linked to regulating satiety, possibly leading to overeating in humans.

A study is suggesting low-calorie sweeteners can disrupt metabolic processes, but only when consumed with carbohydrates. The research hopes to reconcile conflicting studies investigating links between low-calorie sweeteners and metabolic disorders.

Scientists in Denmark have now offered further insights into how sugar reshapes our brain chemistry, by performing experiments on pigs and taking note of how the reward circuitry lights up after consumption.

Researchers have created bacteria that can effectively eat air. By carefully directing the evolution of E. coli in the lab, the team managed to wean them off their preferred diet of sugar, and make the switch to carbon dioxide in the air around them.

Low-calorie alternatives to sucrose could make tasty treats that are at least less bad for us. And now, researchers from Tufts University have developed a more efficient method for producing one such sweetener, using farms of bacteria.

The latest ingredients of life to be discovered off-world are certain bio-essential sugars, which have now been found in meteorites. This could lend weight to the idea that meteorite impacts are responsible for the origin of life on Earth.

Fructose may be more damaging to your health than glucose according to a new animal study comparing the effect of both sweetening compounds on liver metabolism.

A large-scale study has yet again rekindled debate over the association between cancer risk and consumption of sugary drinks. The research suggests unsweetened fruit juices also contain enough sugars to confer a similar increase in cancer risk as sugary soda drinks – but that's not the whole story.

What if you could stay healthier without changing your diet? In mouse tests researchers have now found a way to alter the fat metabolism in the liver, reducing the chances of diabetes without changing a high-fat diet.

A team of scientists from Germany’s University of Tübingen has discovered a novel and unusual sugar molecule that shows great potential as a natural herbicide. It is harmless to animals and humans but can effectively disrupt the growth of various plants and microorganisms.

​Two new studies have reawakened a debate over the safety of artificial sweeteners, suggesting the chemicals may cause significant alterations in the make-up of out gut microbiome​ but some experts are not convinced the research can be accurately applied to human subjects.​