Danish scientists have found a hormone that makes people with a sweet tooth
OSLO, may 15. /Offset. TASS Yuri Mikhailenko/. The uncontrollable craving of some people for sweets may be associated with the work of the hormone FGF21. To such conclusion employees of one of the research centers established by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk at Copenhagen University.
The researchers compared the eating habits of holders of two variants of the gene responsible for the production of the hormone in the liver. As it turned out, one of two groups those with a sweet tooth and was getting 20% more often. The results of the blood tests of a sweet tooth, in turn, showed that after eating sugar on an empty stomach level of FGF21 in serum were 50% lower than those of people who belong to the sweet quiet.
“Accumulated research suggests that the diet of the holders of a particular gene, the ratio of protein and carbohydrates is shifted to the latter. We decided to focus on this fact to read more and find out what products these people choose. It turned out that it is mostly sweets and different kinds of candies,” said Danish news portal videnskab.dk study co-author Nils Grarup.
The results of experiments conducted by another team of scientists on rodents and primates suggests that the increased level of the hormone in the blood may reduce cravings for sweet foods. Scientists believe that new information about the hormone FGF21 can lead to a drug that helps control appetite and fight obesity.
Today people eat too many sweets. This is partly due to the availability of sugar and sweets, however in some people the cause be biological mechanisms due to which a person becomes much more difficult to cope with their craving for sudameris Grarup
According to the scientist, a drug that increases blood levels of FGF21 may be of benefit to those who are not able to stop at one serving of ice cream, cake or other sweet desserts. However, the researcher notes that FGF21 is involved in a number of processes occurring in the human body, and its use as medicine may have unwanted side effects.
In addition, an unhealthy love for sweets may be associated with other factors, including the acquisition of food habits of a person, his emotional state and even an increased number of taste buds on the tongue.
Article of Grarup and his colleagues published in the scientific journal Cell Metabolism.