Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questi...

Read the following passage and mark the letter A, B, C or D on your answer sheet to indicate the best answer to each of the following questions from 22 to 29.

        A growing body of evidence has increasingly linked diet sodas and other no or low-calorie foods with weight gain, so much so that the World Health Organization issued an advisory in May 2023 saying not to use sugar substitutes for weight loss. “Replacing free sugars with non-sugar sweeteners does not help people control their weight long-term,” Dr. Francesco Branca said. Now, a new study may shed light on why consuming too much of the artificial sweetener sucralose could be counterproductive. Instead of the brain sending a signal to eat less, sucralose triggers an increase in appetite when consumed in a drink. “Sucralose activates the area in the brain that regulates hunger, and that activation, in turn, is linked to greater ratings of hunger,” Dr. Katie Page said.

        In fact, people who drank water with sucralose said their appetite increased by nearly 20% compared with drinking water with table sugar. The study only investigated the impact of sucralose and did not research other popular artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame-K, and sodium saccharin. The authors interpreted their results carefully, yet made a strong case that “non-caloric sweeteners, and sucralose specifically, interfere with normal appetite regulation in ways that could have adverse effects on weight control and health,” Katz said.

        All cells in the body require glucose for energy. The brain is the biggest user, gobbling up to half of all sugars circulating in the blood. Nature, however, designed the brain to respond to natural sugars such as glucose found in whole fruits and some vegetables. Artificial sweeteners, therefore, appear to confuse the brain, Page said, by sending signals of sweetness without delivering the needed calories the brain requires. Scientists have hypothesized that when those promised calories don’t arrive, the brain may send out a signal to eat more.

        In addition to finding that drinks with sucralose increased the sensation of hunger by about 17%, Page and her team found increased connections to other parts of the brain responsible for controlling motivation. “Sucralose appears to affect your decision-making skills,” Page said.

(Adapted from https://edition.cnn.com)

Question 22. Which of the following is TRUE, according to the passage?

        A. Sucralose significantly reduces the sensation of hunger in individuals who consume it.

        B. Replacing natural sugars with sucralose has been proven to promote lasting weight loss.

        C. Natural sugars like glucose do not provide the brain with the energy it needs to function properly.

        D. Research suggests that sucralose may stimulate brain activity linked to increased appetite.