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Globe and Mail
Written by PAUL TAYLOR
August 24, 2007 at 9:14 AM EDT
It's not just your tongue that has taste receptors for sweet things - your gut contains them too, a new study suggests.
The remarkable discovery, announced this week by U.S. scientists, provides new insights into how we absorb nutrients from the foods we eat. And it could also explain why artificial sweeteners don't seem to help a lot of people to lose weight.
"Cells of the gut taste glucose through the same mechanisms used by taste cells of the tongue," said Robert Margolskee, who led the research team at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
"Sensing glucose in the gastrointestinal tract is the first step in regulating blood-sugar levels."
Dr. Margolskee explained that carbohydrates ingested from meals and beverages break down into glucose, which stimulates the "sweet-sensing" taste receptors in the gut. Once they are stimulated, the receptors trigger the release of hormones that make the intestines absorb sugar into the bloodstream.
The study was carried out on mice, but the researchers think the same biological processes are going on in the human body.
The disturbing thing about this research is that artificial sweeteners also appear to turn on the gut receptors, Dr. Margolskee said.
That means that even though a diet soft drink is sugar-free, the artificial sweetener leads to a greater uptake of sugars from other foods that might be in your belly at the same time.
"Under these conditions, even if people limit their food intake or limit the amount of carbohydrates in their diet, they will absorb as much sugar as possible," added Dr. Margolskee, whose study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new finding helps shed light on another recent study that found people who down diet beverages are just as likely to develop heart disease and diabetes as those who consume sugary drinks.
A diet pop is still "probably better than drinking too much sugar-sweetened soda," Dr. Margolskee said. But a diet drink isn't "neutral," he stressed. "Whatever hormones are released by sugars could also be released by artificial sweeteners."
Even so, this study could have a positive outcome by leading to the development of better artificial sweeteners, he said.
"One possibility is to have an artificial sweetener that is sweet in the mouth but breaks down in the stomach so it doesn't activate the gut taste cells."
Written by PAUL TAYLOR
August 24, 2007 at 9:14 AM EDT
It's not just your tongue that has taste receptors for sweet things - your gut contains them too, a new study suggests.
The remarkable discovery, announced this week by U.S. scientists, provides new insights into how we absorb nutrients from the foods we eat. And it could also explain why artificial sweeteners don't seem to help a lot of people to lose weight.
"Cells of the gut taste glucose through the same mechanisms used by taste cells of the tongue," said Robert Margolskee, who led the research team at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.
"Sensing glucose in the gastrointestinal tract is the first step in regulating blood-sugar levels."
Dr. Margolskee explained that carbohydrates ingested from meals and beverages break down into glucose, which stimulates the "sweet-sensing" taste receptors in the gut. Once they are stimulated, the receptors trigger the release of hormones that make the intestines absorb sugar into the bloodstream.
The study was carried out on mice, but the researchers think the same biological processes are going on in the human body.
The disturbing thing about this research is that artificial sweeteners also appear to turn on the gut receptors, Dr. Margolskee said.
That means that even though a diet soft drink is sugar-free, the artificial sweetener leads to a greater uptake of sugars from other foods that might be in your belly at the same time.
"Under these conditions, even if people limit their food intake or limit the amount of carbohydrates in their diet, they will absorb as much sugar as possible," added Dr. Margolskee, whose study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The new finding helps shed light on another recent study that found people who down diet beverages are just as likely to develop heart disease and diabetes as those who consume sugary drinks.
A diet pop is still "probably better than drinking too much sugar-sweetened soda," Dr. Margolskee said. But a diet drink isn't "neutral," he stressed. "Whatever hormones are released by sugars could also be released by artificial sweeteners."
Even so, this study could have a positive outcome by leading to the development of better artificial sweeteners, he said.
"One possibility is to have an artificial sweetener that is sweet in the mouth but breaks down in the stomach so it doesn't activate the gut taste cells."
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