Sweet tooth gene surprisingly linked to less body fat, study finds

Apparently, people with a the 'sweet tooth gene' have a predisposition to less body fat.

Last year it was discovered that this particular gene variation of FGF21 may be the reason why certain people have cravings for sweet things, and those who have this gene variation tend to eat more sugar.

That's why researchers working at the University of Copenhagen were surprised to find that people with this variation were also predisposed to having less body fat than others.

However, this doesn't mean we can all go out and indulge in sweet treats now. Sad, we know.

'It sort of contradicts common intuition that people who eat more sugar should have less body fat,' one of the study's researchers, Associate Professor Niels Grarup, explained to Science Daily.

'But it is important to remember that we are only studying this specific genetic variation and trying to find connections to the rest of the body.'

'This is just a small piece of the puzzle describing the connection between diet and sugar intake and the risk of obesity and diabetes.'

The variation is connected to slightly higher blood pressure and an 'apple shape', with more fat being around the waist than the hips.

The study, conducted by an international team and headed by researchers from the University of Exeter, used health information from over 450,000 people.

These hundreds of thousands of people allowed their info to be recorded in the UK Biobank, and included pertinent info like questionnaires on diet and genetic data.

'Now that so many people are involved in the study, it gives our conclusions a certain robustness,' Niels stated.

'Even though the difference in the amount of body fat or blood pressure level is only minor depending on whether or not the person has this genetic variation or not, we are very confident that the results are accurate.'

'Around 20 per cent of the European population has this genetic predisposition.'

The researchers said that their findings about the FGF21 gene could also aid in the development of drugs to treat obesity or diabetes.