ד״ר זיו אב - דיאט עושה אותי רעבה ?!

Short Summary

Main recommendation: Dr. Ziv Av advises cutting artificial sweeteners out of your diet entirely, as he believes they do not help with weight loss and may increase hunger and cravings. If you still want a sweetener, he recommends allulose, which he describes as a natural sweetener that lowers blood sugar and appetite. The talk focuses on sucralose in particular, citing a study that links it to stronger hunger signals.

Key Points

• Diet sodas have not stopped weight gain, as the spread of diet drinks alongside rising obesity suggests the strategy is not very effective.
• A study cited in the video found that sucralose increases blood flow in a region of the hypothalamus considered the hunger center more than glucose does, especially in people with excess weight.
• The same study reportedly found sucralose strengthens connectivity between the hypothalamus and the brain's reward centers, increasing the desire for more.
• The speaker suggests that sweetness without calories may disrupt the body's normal "I ate, I got energy" signaling, boosting the urge to keep eating.
• Artificial sweeteners are also said to alter the gut microbiome and disrupt how the body responds to glucose, the body's primary energy source.

Details Worth Noting

• Concrete instructions: Eliminate artificial sweeteners from daily life; the speaker says this is possible and easier than most people think. Dr. Av says he personally did this through several days of a fasting workshop, his first fasting-based diet, though he notes it is not the only way. If you want a sweetener, he recommends allulose, a natural sweetener that he says lowers blood sugar and hunger. He mentions a linked blog post on allulose, though the link is not part of the transcript.
• The study compared people of different weights and ages who drank water, a glucose drink, or a sucralose drink.
• The speaker frames the proposed mechanism as a hypothesis: sweetness without calories may fail to trigger the body's normal fullness signals.
• He notes that the sucralose-related hunger effect was specifically stronger in people with excess weight.
• He frames his stance as personal and experience-based, noting he was once a severe sugar addict.

Bottom Line

Dr. Av's view is that artificial sweeteners, particularly sucralose, may drive hunger and cravings rather than help weight control, so cutting them out or switching to allulose is his preferred path.