By Christine
H. Chen
Fall 2017 Intern
With the holiday season upon us,
many of us will indulge in sweet treats at the office and at home, unless you
are someone who does not care much for sweets, a concept that may surprise some
of us candy lovers!
It turns out our sweet tooth has to
do with two genetic variants of a hormone
known as FGF21. Published research from the University of Copenhagen showed
that individuals with the genetic variants rs838133 and rs838145 were 20
percent more likely to eat sweets than individuals lacking these variants.
These two genetic variations of the FGF21 hormone are amazingly specific
to the craving of candies like lollipops, but do not seem to have any effect on
the fattier sweets like cupcakes and other pastries.
A separate study asked participants
whether they liked sweets or not, and found that those who did had 50 percent
less FGF21 hormone in their blood, suggesting that the hormone regulates sugar
cravings. In other words, having lower levels of FGF21 or having a mutated
version will cause you to eat more sugar.
The good news is FGF21 levels do
not necessarily correlate with weight gain, so don’t let that hold you back
from enjoying some holiday treats this season!
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