Satisfy sugar cravings with healthy natural alternatives

Having a sweet tooth can be really difficult in today’s world where sugar is a bad word. Besides, having too much sugar can also increase your risk of diabetes and make you obese. So, what do you do? Go for healthy sugar alternatives. These are easily available and can be easily incorporated into your daily diet. All these alternatives mentioned here also come with their own set of health benefits. Therefore, it is better to shift to these sugar substitutes if you want to be fit and healthy.

Agave nectar: This is sweeter than sugar and can be stored for a long time. It also has a low glycemic index. The taste is somewhat like honey. You can use this as a sugar substitute.

Coconut Sugar: This comes packed with many healthy vitamins and minerals. The best thing is that it it doesn’t cause any sugar spike. But the amount of calories is the same as in sugar.

Honey: This is the sweetest gift of nature. It contains less fructose than agave and comes with many health benefits. You can easily add this to you diet.

Date paste: You can make this at home by blending a few seedless dates. Add his to your smoothies and sauces, marinades and cakes.

Stevia extract: This plant has zero-calories. It is safe for diabetics too. However, you may get a bitter aftertaste. But you can get used to it and the benefits are many.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     
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Sweet Tooth Gene Tied to Less Body Fat

A variant in the gene for a certain hormone is tied to people eating more carbs. Yet a new study of 451,000 people finds that the allele doesn’t universally mean poorer health. Researchers reported yesterday that those with the sweet-tooth variant actually have lower body fat than others, and no higher risk for type 2 diabetes. They did, however, find a link between the allele and high blood pressure and a thicker waistline.

“This goes against the current perception that eating sugar is bad for health. It may reduce body fat because the same allele also results in a lower consumption of protein and fat in the diet,” study coauthor, a molecular geneticist , says in a press release. “But whilst this version of the gene lowers body fat, it also redistributes fat to the upper body, where it’s more likely to cause harm, including higher blood pressure.”

The gene of interest here is FGF21, which encodes fibroblast growth factor 21, a hormone involved in alcohol and sugar consumption and insulin sensitization. The authors note that it’s a target of weight loss interventions.

People with a particular allele of FGF21—20 % of Europeans are homozygous for the variant—tend to consume relatively more sugar and alcohol than those without the allele. To see what consequences this might have on people’s health,the team  collected data on 451,000 people whose genetic and health information is part of the UK Biobank.

Although those with the sweet-tooth allele had less body fat than others, they had a higher waist-to-hip ratio. They also had higher blood pressure, but no greater risk for heart disease or type 2 diabetes. “These results suggest that FGF21 has pleiotropic effects, with separate effects on macronutrient intake to those on body shape and blood pressure,” the authors write in their report.

A nutrition scientist tells that the results may warrant a rethink of the idea that “no matter what, sugar consumption is bad. This villainisation needs proper exploration.”

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Sweet tooth? It's the liver

A hormone made inside the liver may hold the key to the human sweet tooth.

Scientists have gained what they believe are the first insights into the molecular mechanisms to help explain why some people like sweets more than others.

The researchers at the University of Copenhagen have found that people with specific variants or versions of the gene that makes the hormone called FGF21 are 20 per cent more likely to enjoy feeding on sweets, such as ice cream or chocolates.

Their study, published yesterday in the journal Cell Metabolism, also suggests for the first time that the liver, through the FGF21 hormone, may control human eating behaviour. Laboratory studies on rodents have already shown that the hormone acts on the brain's reward centre.

"We're now a step closer to understanding the molecular basis of the sweet tooth - something that has not been well understood," Matthew Gillum, assistant professor of biological sciences at the university, told The Telegraph. "We think the liver sends messages to the brain and influences eating behaviour."

Gillum and his colleagues at the University of Iowa in the US had discovered the role of the FGF21 hormone in regulating the ingestion of sweets in rodents in 2015 and in non-human primates last year. Their current study was aimed at exploring whether the hormone also influences the consumption of sweets by humans.

The scientists examined the eating habits of several thousand people across Denmark and found that people with either one or two variants of the FGF21 hormone were likely to consume larger amounts of sweets than people who lacked those specific variants of the gene.

How exactly the genetic differences translate into behaviour is still unclear, Gillum said. "It is possible that these variants perturb the normal regulatory pathway that restrains the appetite for sugar after a little bit has been consumed, but we still need to understand the precise mechanisms."

As part of their study, the researchers focused on people who either shunned sweets or were extremely fond of sweets and found differences in FGF21 levels between the two sets of people after fasting. 

Those who disliked sweets had fasting FGF21 levels higher than those who liked sweets. But when the volunteers drank sugar-laced water containing about twice as much sugar as a soft drink can, the FGF21 blood levels rose to about the same levels in both sets of people - those who disliked sweets and those who liked sweets.

These observations suggest FGF21 may be a "negative regulator" of sweet consumption because the hormone increased markedly after the oral sugar intake and because those who dislike sweets have higher FGF21 levels than those who like.

The researchers also detected an association between FGF21 and smoking and alcohol intake and have said their findings warrant a clinical trial to confirm the connection between FGF21 and sweet intake, alcohol drinking and smoking.

this is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   
https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com. one can see my crochet creations 
https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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