Do you have a Sweet Tooth? Blame your genes!
-
Monday, 23 April, 2001, 00:24 GMT 01:24 UK
Sweet tooth gene found
By BBC News Online's Helen Briggs
Craving sweets has a genetic basis, scientists have revealed.
A team led by Robert Margolskee of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine at New York University has found a gene that enables the tongue's taste receptors to identify sweet things.
The discovery could lead to the development of new sweeteners and a greater understanding of why some people have a sweet tooth.
Progress has been made in identifying receptors for other tastes, such as sour, bitter and salty. But until now the taste for sweet things has remained elusive.
Chemical clue
Being able to identify sweet things probably played a crucial role in our evolution. It enabled our ancestors to distinguish between bitter food sources, such as deadly plants, and sugary food, which is rich in energy.
There is now considerable commercial interest in developing new sweeteners, and scientists have been searching for the mechanisms underlying sweet taste.
Two teams of researchers in the United States may have succeeded. They think they have tracked down a gene which functions as a sweet taste receptor.
The work was based on studies of two strains of lab mice. One strain liked drinking water laced with sugar or saccharin while the other preferred plain water.
Genetic database
After locating a gene in mice that seems to give the rodents a sweet tooth, the scientists then searched a database for similar genetic sequences in humans.
It appears that a tiny change to a gene determines whether mice, and possibly people, have a preference for sweet things.
"It seems fitting that the presence or absence of a sugar chain on a sweet taste receptor should determine sensitivity and preference for sweetness in life," Robert Margolskee and colleagues write in the journal Nature Genetics.
"Such information would be particularly useful for the identification of novel sweeteners of intense potency," they add.
A similar study, carried out by a team at Harvard Medical School, Boston, US, is reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience. -
this particular gene for particular trait thingy is overrated
-
Some of us might not have a sweet tooth, but instead, a salty tooth!
Are You Sweet or Salty?
Study Sheds Light on
Sweet and Salty Cravings
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A desire for chocolate may be a signal you are tired and the urge for salty snacks or milk products may indicate your body wants a real meal, according to results of a study on food cravings.
The study, conducted in France, also found that women crave food more often than men do, and seem to have their strongest cravings if they are blue or anxious. Men, on the other hand, indulge their stomachs more often when they are happy.
The complete findings are published in the March issue of the International Journal of Eating Disorders.
Food craving is defined as a strong urge to eat a certain food or type of food. It has been mainly studied in women and in clinical settings where it has been shown to be common in obese or overweight individuals and in people with eating disorders, explained lead author Lionel Lafay of INSERM in Villejuif, France.
``We aimed at studying this phenomenon in a (community-based) normal-weight population. This investigation is part of general research on weight preoccupations,'' Lafay told Reuters Health.
In the study, the investigators gathered information about the food cravings and eating habits of 538 women and 506 men. The study participants kept diaries of eating habits and filled out questionnaires that also assessed their emotional and physical characteristics.
``Subjects were considered to be cravers if they experienced a strong urge to eat specific foods at least once a week during the 6 months (prior to being surveyed).'' They were specifically ''asked about their mood and hunger at the times they indulged in their cravings,'' the authors explain.
``We observed twice as much food craving in women (28%) than in men (13%),'' Lafay told Reuters Health. ``Though food craving episodes were not associated with weight status, they were strongly related to weight concern,'' he added.
``Subjects, particularly women, who craved were more frequently on diets or reported restricting their diet, had unstable weight, felt more frequently too heavy and wanted more frequently to lose weight,'' he said.
Lafay noted that ``another interesting finding was that mood was related to food cravings but in a different way according to gender. A majority of female cravers experienced a more (depressed) mood state during the day, and a negative mood--such as annoyance, boredom, and depression--preceded the craving episodes. In contrast, men more commonly indulged in food craving in association with a feeling of happiness.''
What biological factors may be at play to cause women to crave food more than men do?
``The gender difference observed could be due to a higher degree of weight concern in women. Social pressure for thinness--more pronounced in women--may (cause them to) more frequently restrict their diet and to follow a diet to lose weight. As these practices are associated with food cravings, they could be one explanation,'' Lafay said.
Another possible explanation could be that women experience a different relationship between food and mood. However, the relationships between food and mood are very complex, as is their underlying biological and psychological determination, Lafay noted.
For example, Lafay said, food craving does not appear to be a simple product of the need for calories and energy.
The simple act of depriving oneself of food can explain for food craving in some cases, but ``in our study, food craving was related to a 'desire' and not to a 'need' for a majority of subjects, which confirms the important rule of psychological factors,'' Lafay pointed out.
``Furthermore, subjects who reported being hungry craved more frequently for salted foods whereas others subjects reported craving for sweet foods,'' he said.
SOURCE: International Journal of Eating Disorders 2001;29:195-204.
Article from :http://preventdisease.com/news/articles/sweet_or_salty.shtml -
Oh yeah? Tell that to the scientists and researchers and doctors.Originally posted by poon cho tang:this particular gene for particular trait thingy is overrated
-
And this, from a Dr Art Mollen :
Why Do We Crave Sweet Or Salty Foods?
So, you've had a sweet tooth or can't get enough salt. Well, the chances are you get plenty of salt, sugar and fat in your diet. But why do you crave it so much?
A recent report in Arthritis Today suggests that you're craving chips, pretzels, and olives or ice cream simply because your body is used to it. Salt is an acquired taste, so simply try to wean yourself off by gradually cutting back. And if you're bloated, salt makes you drink more water to flush the excess from your cells. So, instead of eating chips, unsalted popcorn might be a better choice. And if you're craving fat in cookies, french fries, pizza, and ice cream, you've either been yo-yo dieting or you are feeling sad or stressed. So, get to the root of your emotions before reaching for that slice of pizza. If it's sugar that you're craving like candy, soda or anything sweet, then you're blood sugar level could be low. Eat little meals throughout the day and don't skip meals. Also don't eat too many artificial sweeteners, which may raise insulin levels creating sweet cravings. More than likely you're feeling stressed, so start eating apples and oranges. At the end of the day, you can outsmart your cravings by being prepared with low calorie snacks and drinking plenty of water. -
Originally posted by Rhonda:
Hmm... I think I have a salty tooth more than a sweet tooth. I seldom crave sweets and if I do, they're very easily satisfied with a small portion. In fact, most times, I cannot tolerate things that are too sweet.
[b]A desire for chocolate may be a signal you are tired and the urge for salty snacks or milk products may indicate your body wants a real meal, according to results of a study on food cravings.
[/b]
I've had a craving for potato chips for the past 1.5 weeks!!
Going by the above quote, does this mean that my body wants a 'real meal'? So, all this while since I've had that salty tooth, I haven't been eating 'real meal's?
And, what if I crave for satay? Curry? Oyster Omelette? Those aren't exactly sweet nor salty per se.
Hmm... new term perhaps? 'Carbo Tooth'?? And yes, you heard it from me first!! 
-
Anything sweet looks as ugly as sin itself, I stay away from them.
However, once a month I get a bolt out of the blue and craved for
sugar. Like a kid let loose in a candy store, I appeased my sugar
craving by consuming bars of Cadbury dark choclate and Kit Kat.
After the indulgence, comes the unromantic clutch of middle age.
One small bite of choclate is a lifetime on the hip. My most
obsessive sugar craving occurs when I am in the advanced
stage of my PMT. -
great now not only am i fat, i'm always blue??!!Originally posted by Rhonda:The study, conducted in France, also found that [b]women crave food more often than men do, and seem to have their strongest cravings if they are blue or anxious. Men, on the other hand, indulge their stomachs more often when they are happy. -
I love this comic strip, Cathy, and like most women, she's forever struggling with weight, exercise and diet!Originally posted by kym:Anything sweet looks as ugly as sin itself, I stay away from them.
However, once a month I get a bolt out of the blue and craved for
sugar. Like a kid let loose in a candy store, I appeased my sugar
craving by consuming bars of Cadbury dark choclate and Kit Kat.
After the indulgence, comes the unromantic clutch of middle age.
One small bite of choclate is a lifetime on the hip. My most
obsessive sugar craving occurs when I am in the advanced
stage of my PMT.
She was once drawn with a huge muffin for hips, and the tagline went, 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!' I thought it was sooooo funny!!
You get 'obsessive sugar cravings' during your PMT? I get a bottomless pit of a stomach for 2 days or so during that time!
I can eat lunch, then 15 mins later, my stomach growls (AGAIN!!) and it seriously feels empty!! 
I get into huge huge psychological battles during that time, 'No! No eating! You just ate this huge whale for lunch!'; 'But... but... I AM hungry!! 
'; 'You wanna grow FAAAAAT, izzit?' ... Tough.
Odd thing though, if I eat during that 'window period', I don't gain weight.
Small comfort. hehe! -
SH.IT ... i just look down and saw 2 huge muffins!!!!!Originally posted by Rhonda:I love this comic strip, Cathy, and like most women, she's forever struggling with weight, exercise and diet!
She was once drawn with a huge muffin for hips, and the tagline went, 'A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips!' I thought it was sooooo funny!! -
Originally posted by tare:SH.IT ... i just look down and saw 2 huge muffins!!!!!
OK, I share one Cathy cartoon re. her ongoing fight with food!
-
-
why i feel like u just posted MY cartoon?!Originally posted by Rhonda:
OK, I share one Cathy cartoon re. her ongoing fight with food! -
i dont have a sweet tooth....
or rather i can control my sweet urge.... -
I dont' have a sweet tooth..
I wonder if it's something to do with how you're brought up too. -
nature vs nurtureOriginally posted by Lingos:I dont' have a sweet tooth..
I wonder if it's something to do with how you're brought up too.
would not be suprise the way u r brought up will lead to a sweet tooth. -
Surely it's not all genetics.Originally posted by kops21:nature vs nurture
would not be suprise the way u r brought up will lead to a sweet tooth.