Leon Mamish (2)
Link: http://healthsciences.ku.dk/news/2018/04/surprising-discovery-sweet-tooth-gene-connected-with-less-body-fat/
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Have a sweet tooth?
So funny thing, people with sweet tooths generally have less body fat. What? Yeah you heard me. So some research done by the University of Copenhagen discovered that people with a variation for the gene FGF21 have a predisposition to have less body fat. Now the weird thing comes in when you notice that FGF21 could quite possibly also be the reason people get a craving for sweets. But what is important to note is that they mention the fact that it is a variation of the gene. As it is known that FGF21 stimulates glucose uptake in fat cells, so this variation could likely do the opposite while having the side effect of giving you a sweet tooth. Another odd effect is that the same variation is connected with increased blood pressure as well as increased fat around the waste and hips. So it isn't exactly a win-win situation. While the gene is associated with lower overall body fat it is also associated with the types of fat that, well.... makes you look fat. However, the interesting turn this research could take is that researchers are trying to determine if it is possible to administer a drug that could target or replace the gene in question in order to hopefully combat obesity, diabetes and other conditions associated with increased sugar intake.
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Fat distribution on the body would be fascinating to study. This article makes me think of a few friends of mine that eat tons of candy or baked goods but have little body fat. I wonder if this has anything to do with age? I wonder if their low bmi has to do with age or if it will be a lifetime trend.
ReplyDelete-Brooke Sullivan (3)
This was an interesting read. I always thought that metabolism played a large role in maintaining low fat. I also knew that genes contribute a lot to how one's fat is distributed in one's body. It's interesting how this gene that can cause low body fat, can have an opposite effect - the craving for sweets. I wonder if there's some kind of explanation for these contradictory effects. Do people with low body fat need more glucose for some reason?
ReplyDelete- Angelina Weng (3)
This is really interesting! I have been recently reading a lot of studies about fat storage, and I've noticed that most studies prove that where our bodies choose to store fat is almost completely determined by genetic factors. This backs up where you mentioned that this gene is correlated with an increase in fat storage around the waist and hips.
ReplyDelete- Rund Tawfiq (3)
This was a very interesting article! I never would have thought that people with a sweet tooth would have less body fat. I at always thought that body fat was typically from what you eat. I knew the genetics played a factor in body fat but I was unaware it was. I found it very interesting to learn that sweets dont really affect your bodyweight but they do give you cavities!
ReplyDelete-Tatiana Silveira (3)
Coming from a sweet tooth, I find this article pretty fascinating. It it interesting to see what kind of effects come with having a craving for sugar. You would expect people with a sweet tooth to also be high in body fat but that is not usually the case. I would be very interested to see a study as to why this is.
ReplyDeleteWow cool post! As others have said, I never would have thought that those with a sweet tooth would have overall less body fat. It's definitely interesting that it's associated with different types/distributions of fat though. I'm excited to see what future research finds on this matter.
ReplyDelete-Nicole Ayres (1)
It's interesting to know that people who actually consume more sugar have less body fat. Just from reading the first line, I would assume that these people might have less body fat, but they probably have more of the bad fats in their body. Ever since I was a kid, people would always tell me never consume too much candy or sugar because it's bad for you. It's good to hear that researchers are trying to find other methods to combat obesity, diabetes and such.
ReplyDelete-Catherine Tsang (3)