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Glutton For Sugar? Your Genes May Be To Blame
Sugary diets linked to variation in GLUT2 Gene
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News
May
2008 -- Scientists may have found a genetic reason
why some people eat more sugar than others.
The
key may be a certain variation in the GLUT2 gene,
according to researchers including graduate student
Karen Eny and associate professor Ahmed El-Sohemy,
PhD, of the University of Toronto's nutritional
sciences department.
They
found that adults with that GLUT2 gene variant
reported greater sugar consumption than those with a
different variant.
Data
came from 100 Canadian adults with type 2 diabetes
who weren't taking diabetes drugs and 587 Canadian
adults without diabetes.
Participants completed dietary surveys and provided
blood samples for DNA tests.
The
GLUT2 gene variant linked to sugar intake wasn't
tied to fat, protein, or alcohol consumption. Those
findings held for adults with and without diabetes,
regardless of age.
The
researchers explain that the GLUT2 gene may help the
body sense blood sugar (glucose) levels, and the
variant may hamper that process, short-circuiting
one of the body's cues to stop eating.
But
that doesn't mean that the GLUT2 gene variant drives
people to binge on sugar -- or that everyone with a
sweet tooth can blame the GLUT2 gene. Observational
studies like this one don't prove cause and effect.
Still, the researchers argue that the GLUT2 gene
deserves further study for its possible effects on
food preferences and disorders affecting food
intake.
The
findings appear in the May 13 edition of
Physiological Genomics.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
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They found that adults with that GLUT2 gene
variant reported greater sugar consumption than
those with a different variant. |
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