Researchers from Columbia University have recognized sugar-sensing neurons in mice, which could cause the advancement of brand-new sweeteners.
Sugar is everywhere in today’s food system and one of the most common components in processed foods. It is frequently described as addicting.
Because refined sugar became commonly offered in the United States, the typical consumption per person in the nation increased by 10 times, to more than 45 kgs each year.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) quote that people in the U.S. now derive around 14% of their day-to-day calories from added sugar.
Such high intake rates are worrying, given sugar’s association with type 2 diabetes and obesity, both of which are on the rise in the Western world.
Now, researchers from Columbia University, in New York City, have actually identified a few of the brain systems behind sugar consumption, which might discuss why sugar triggers cravings that artificial sweeteners just can’t satisfy.
The findings are available in the journal Nature
Sugar is an important energy source for all animals, consisting of human beings. As a result, we have developed specific neural circuits to recognize and seek out sugar, and these start in the mouth.
The tongue has specific taste receptors to identify sweet taste. These are activated by sugar, and they send out signals to the brain.
Surprisingly, though, animals can develop strong yearnings for sugar, even if they lack the taste receptors for it, as the authors of the present research study explain.
What’s more, they report, if animals without sweet taste receptors are provided two drinks, one sweetened with sugar and the other with sweetening agent, they still choose the sweet beverage– regardless of being not able to taste either.
This recommends that the body might recognize sugar in another location, perhaps further down the digestive pathway.
To examine, the researchers, from Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute, set out to try to find these additional receptors in mice.
The team began by administeri