We all love eating junk food even though we know it’s not part of a healthy diet…Now a team of researchers may have discovered a gene that acts as a switch, dictating whether we like high-fat or high-sugar foods more.
[S]cientists at the University of Cambridge found that neuronal pathways involving the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) in the brain play a critical role in influencing food choice.…
Previous studies in mice had shown that gene mutations that disrupted the MC4R pathway resulted in the mice eating a lot more fat. But when these mice were presented with sweetened food and water, they didn’t like those options and ate a lot less.
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The results are exciting because they are the first to point to a genetic preference for certain kinds of foods, says Claudia Doege, who studies obesity at Columbia University. “We know that 40 to 60 percent of obesity is inherited but it has been very difficult to find which genes drives these cases,” she said.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: This Gene Mutation May Make You Crave More Greasy Food (And Shrink Your Sweet Tooth)
