Summary: A recent study has examined how dietary preferences and the intake of sugary foods are influenced by genetic variations in the SI protein, which affect lactose digestion. Scientists found that people with minimal sucrose-digesting skill, due to specific genetic variants, showed reduced sugar cravings and use.
This finding opens the door to the development of qualified remedies to lower population sugar intake, which might lead to a decrease in fat and type 2 diabetes. In research, both mice and humans with affected SI performance consumed less sugar-rich foods, suggesting a healthy connection between sucrose compassion and preference.
Important Information:
- People with limited or total , SI , protein problems showed lower sugar intake and taste.
- A lower intestines sugar compassion may help to naturally lower cravings for sugary foods.
- Targeting , SI , may give new solutions for reducing sweets diet on a population level.
Origin: University of Nottingham
A study published in the journal Gastroenterology opens the door to deliberately reducing lactose intake in the population. It also provides novel genetic insights into diet preferences.
Dr. Peter Aldiss, a team leader in the School of Medicine at the University of Nottingham, Assistant Professor Mette K. Andersen, Assistant Professor Mauro D’Amato at CIC bioGUNE in Spain and LUM University in Italy, are currently leading the investigation.
It also involves professionals worldwide from Copenhagen, Greenland, Italy and Spain as part of the” Sucrase-isomaltase running team”.
Dr. Aldiss said,” Excess calories from honey are an established source to fat and type 2 diabetes. In the UK, we consume 9–12 % of our , dietary intake , from free sugars, such as sucrose, with 79 % of the population consuming up to three sugary snacks a day.
” At the same time,  , biological defects , in sugar metabolism have been associated with , irritable bowel syndrome, a typical functional disorder affecting up to 10 % of the community.
Our study today suggests that how much sugar we consume and how much we enjoy sugary food may be influenced by genetic variation in how we digest it.
The authorities started by studying the eating habits of animals lacking the SI protein. Here, animals developed a rapid decline in sugar intake and preference. This was confirmed in two big population-based colleagues involving 6, 000 people in Greenland and 134, 766 in the UK BioBank.
The study used a nutrigenetics approach to investigate how SI gene variability affects human sugar absorption and preference. Strangely, those in the UK who have a defective, half functional SI gene and a total inability to digest nutritional sucrose in Greenland preferred sucrose-rich foods less.
” These results suggest that , genetic variation , in our ability to digest dietary sugar can influence our diet, and desire, for sucrose-rich foods while opening up the possibility of targeting SI to selectively reduce sucrose eating at the community level”, says Dr. Aldiss.
” In the future, understanding how defects in the SI protein action to minimize the consumption, and preference, of dietary sucrose may facilitate the development of novel therapies to help suppress population-wide , sucrose , use to boost digestive and metabolic health”.
About this news from research into diet and genetics
Author: Peter Aldiss
Source: University of Nottingham
Contact: Peter Aldiss – University of Nottingham
Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News
Original Research: Open access.
By Peter Aldiss and colleagues,” Sucrase isomaltase isomaltase dysfunction lowers sucrose intake in mice and humans.” Gastroenterology
