What If Sugar Wasn't Sweet?

Cravings aren’t just about weak will; they’re biology doing exactly what billions of food dollars engineered them to do. We sit down with Sander Brus to unpack how sweetness hijacks reward circuits, why kids are showing up with adult metabolic diseases, and what happens when you flip the switch on sweet taste itself.

Sander takes us from his diagnostics background into the heart of metabolic health, explaining how sweet taste receptors (T1R2/T1R3) live on the tongue and in the gut, where they act as glucose sensors. You’ll hear how plant compounds like gymnemic acids can temporarily block those receptors, making soda taste like “nothing,” softening the dopamine surge, and even reducing post-meal glucose and insulin in some studies. We compare the behavioral punch of reducing perceived sweetness to the pharmacology of GLP‑1 agonists, and we dig into CGM experiments that show real-world spikes shrinking when sweetness is inhibited.

We also zoom out to the food environment: why sugar is uniquely craved compared to seed oils or grains, how high fructose corn syrup supercharges palatability, and why noncaloric sweeteners may still nudge insulin through cephalic responses. Sander shares practical playbooks for using a mouth rinse to tame dessert triggers or a capsule 30 minutes before carb-heavy meals to blunt spikes. Along the way, we talk palate reset in 10–14 days, metabolic flexibility, insulin’s role in aging pathways like mTOR, and the hope of nudging an industry to build foods that support healthspan rather than erode it.

If you’ve ever wanted fewer cravings, steadier energy, and data-backed ways to quiet the glucose roller coaster, this conversation offers both science and tactics you can try today. Listen, share with someone navigating sugar struggles, and tell us your biggest craving scenario so we can tackle it in a future episode. And if you’re finding value here, subscribe, leave a review, and help more people discover metabolic tools that actually work.

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