A new study suggests that your blood sugar control may play a bigger role in shaping food preferences than your weight alone.
Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech looked at flavour–nutrient learning – how people come to prefer foods depending on how they feel after eating them.
This “gut-to-brain” feedback helps teach us what foods we want to eat.
The study, published in Physiology & Behavior (Nov 2025 issue), found that people with higher fasting glucose or HbA1c (a marker of longer-term blood sugar control) were less likely to develop a preference for foods paired with calories, compared with those with lower glucose levels.
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Interestingly, these effects were linked to blood sugar – not to body weight, BMI, or waist size.
How the study worked
Twenty-six adults with a range of body weights, but no diabetes or prediabetes, took part.
They were introduced to unusual flavours (such as acerola, bilberry and yuzu) to reduce the effect of prior taste preferences.
Drinks containing either sugar (calories) or artificial sweetener (no calories) were tested over several weeks.
Some participants learned to prefer the flavour linked to calories, even when sugar was later removed – showing the effect of post-digestive signals rather than sweetness.
However, those with blood sugar measures at the higher end of normal were less likely to show this effect.
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Why it matters
This research suggests that even within the “normal” range, differences in blood sugar control can affect how strongly gut signals shape our eating behaviour. In other words, what you eat may be influenced more by your glucose levels than by your body weight.
Lead author Dr Alexandra DiFeliceantonio explains: “Even if you are a healthy weight, fluctuations in blood glucose may still influence what you eat in ways you’re not consciously aware of.”
The team are now recruiting more participants with different body weights and wider ranges of glucose control to explore this link further.
Understanding how blood sugar influences food choice could help develop new approaches to preventing obesity and supporting people with diabetes.
