Even after eating artificial sweeteners or sugar every day for two weeks, people’s bodies still react the same way to the taste—no more, no less insulin is released when they taste it.

When overweight people taste a solid sweet made with artificial sweetener (like sucralose), their bodies sometimes release insulin right away—even though there are no calories—just like when they taste real sugar.

Even artificial sweeteners that don’t contain sugar can make some people’s bodies release insulin just from tasting them.

Chewing a sweet solid (like a gumdrop) makes your body release more insulin right away than just drinking the same sweet taste, no matter if it’s sugar or artificial sweetener.

Some people’s bodies react to sweet tastes by releasing insulin right away—even if it’s fake sugar—but others don’t, and we don’t yet know why.

Even though tasting artificial sweetener makes some people’s bodies release insulin, it doesn’t make them feel hungrier or change their blood sugar right after—so the insulin spike doesn’t seem to do anything noticeable yet.