CAN you taste the difference between sugar and a zero-calorie sweetener? It seems specialised cells in your gut probably can within milliseconds. Research in the 1950s revealed that food doesn't need to pass through the mouth to stimulate the brain - mice respond in this way when foods are put directly into their stomachs, too. Two years ago, Diego Bohorquez at Duke University in North Carolina and his colleagues identified a new type of cell that gives the gut its own ability to sense nutrients. These neuropod cells were spotted in the intestines of mice, and rapidly sent signals via the vagus nerve, which links the gut to the brain, related to the presence of sugary snacks. To find out whether these cells can tell the difference between sugar and zero-calorie sweeteners, the researchers put a range of sugars and sweeteners into the guts of mice. At the same time.
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