The first step to solving a problem is understanding it! Sometimes we talk about research that doesn’t have an immediate everyday impact. While our blogs about lifestyle changes are essential to health in the here and now, knowing about the research being done to help us in the future helps us understand the future of science.
Researchers have now mapped the 3-D structure of the human sweet taste receptor. That is the sensor, predominantly found on the tongue, that tastes sweet things. However, the receptor is found throughout the body. It may play a role in the function of the pancreas and other organs. By understanding the receptor, researchers want to be able to create new regulators to cut down on sweet cravings.
On average, Americans eat 100 pounds of sugar a year. In 1800, we ate only 18 pounds. This has become a public health crisis.
“The leading role that sugar plays in obesity cannot be overlooked,” said study co-first author Dr. Juen Zhang of Columbia Univ. “The artificial sweeteners that we use today to replace sugar just don’t meaningfully change our desire for sugar. Now that we know what the receptor looks like, we might be able to design something better.”
By understanding how our bodies detect sweetness, they hope to make better artificial sweeteners that would be more satiating. That, in turn, could cut down on the amount of sugar a person wants.
The map of the receptor took three years to make. It is so detailed that studying it could change scientists’ understanding of metabolism and blood sugar health.
“We’re trying to move our understanding of science forward to be able to help people,” said study co-author Andrew Chang.
We wrote recently about how Splenda can increase appetite. (https://blog.neulivenhealth.com/post/artificial-sweetener-linked-to-higher-appetite) The researchers in that study weren’t sure if their results were true of all noncaloric sweeteners. They found that when taste receptors told the brain something sweet was being eaten, the brain started calorie-intensive processes regardless of whether a person ate sugar or Splenda. That, in turn, left the people who ate Splenda hungry at the end of the study.
Putting these two studies together, that would be a problem these researchers would have to overcome. Finding something that tastes sweet but doesn’t tell the brain to burn calories seems challenging. Hopefully, these researchers know the other study and find a workaround. We’ll be excited if they do! We are always interested in new noncaloric sweeteners and are hopeful for better, healthier options!
