Imagine that instead of fighting the passion for sweet, you are just ... change the composition of your intestinal bacteria. Sounds fantastic? However, this is what offers a new study published in Nature Microbiology , which can dramatically change the approach to blood sugar control and diabetes treatment.
Scientists at the University of China have studied how microorganisms in the intestine affect metabolism and food preferences. Their attention was attracted by Bacteroides vulgatus , a bacterium that was able to launch a powerful biochemical cascade in the body. Its metabolites stimulate the production of GLP-1, a hormone that regulates blood sugar and signals the brain about saturation. It is this effect that imitates the popular Semaglutide drug (known under the Ozmpic brand).
But the real surprise was that GLP-1 does not work alone. It stimulates another important hormone - FGF21, which directly reduces the attraction to sugar. In fact, this combination allows the body to control both glucose level and nutritional behavior.
The study involved both mice with diabetes and 84 people, including patients with type 2 diabetes. In people with mutations in the FFAR4 , lower levels of the hormone FGF21 and increased thrust for sugar were observed. This genetic factor can explain why some of us do not imagine life without dessert and others are indifferent to sugar taste.
Moreover, previous studies indicate that the carriers of certain FGF21 are 20% more likely to prefer sweets. This confirms: our love for sugar is not only a habit but also part of a biological program.
Despite the fact that the results of the study are currently attested mainly in mice, the discovery opens new horizons. If you can develop methods of purposeful impact on the microbioma, it will be possible to stimulate the natural production of GLP-1 and FGF21, reducing dependence on medicines such as lampics.
This can be a real revolution in the approach to the prevention and treatment of diabetes - a more natural, individualized and safer alternative to pharmaceuticals.
Scientists emphasize that it is a long way to use a long way: it is necessary to conduct large -scale studies in humans, to find out side effects and long -term effects. But the very fact that our intestinal flora can be an ally in the fight against diabetes and sweetness is a big breakthrough.
