{"id":36295,"date":"2023-11-22T17:26:33","date_gmt":"2023-11-22T16:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6a0e286b-9c0f-4195-9009-72f1db4ebf59"},"modified":"2023-11-22T18:46:14","modified_gmt":"2023-11-22T17:46:14","slug":"your-tastebuds-are-the-key-to-preventing-overeating-groundbreaking-study-suggests","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcsciencefocus\/rss_feed\/your-tastebuds-are-the-key-to-preventing-overeating-groundbreaking-study-suggests\/","title":{"rendered":"Your tastebuds are the key to preventing overeating, groundbreaking study suggests"},"content":{"rendered":"

New insights into appetite suppression could lead to revolutionary new weight loss drugs. <\/p>

By Thomas Ling\n <\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 22 November 2023 at 16:26 PM<\/p>

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It\u2019s one of life\u2019s great mysteries: how can we manage to resist eating the entire box of doughnuts all at once? The secret to appetite control, it turns out, could be your sense of taste.<\/p>

That\u2019s according to scientists at UC San Francisco, who have discovered that brain cells linked to our tastebuds, not our guts, are the first defence against binge eating<\/a>.<\/p>

It\u2019s a finding that could be used to develop weight loss treatments that work better than drug Semaglutide<\/a> (better known as Ozempic or Wegovy).<\/p>

How your appetite works<\/strong><\/h2>

It\u2019s true that when it comes to suppressing appetite, your gut plays a role. After experimenting with mice, the scientists suggest that your intestines and stomach can send signals to a group of brain cells, known as CGC cells, which can curb your appetite \u2013 but only after tens of minutes.<\/p>

However, another group of brain cells \u2013 known as prolactin-releasing hormone<\/a> (PRLH) cells \u2013 linked to your tastebuds, can act in just seconds.<\/p>

Stimulated when sensing flavour in your mouth, these cells send two conflicting messages around the brain \u2013 one essentially says ‘This is good food, eat more!’, while the other says ‘Slow down or you\u2019re going to be sick!’. It\u2019s ultimately the balance between these messages that determine the strength of your munchies.<\/p>

It\u2019s now hoped that a deeper understanding of this balance \u2013 and the interaction between PRLH and CGC cells \u2013 could lead to new weight loss treatments and medicines.<\/p>

\u201cThis discovery gives us a new framework to understand\u00a0how we control our eating,\u201d said Dr Zachary Knight<\/a>, who led the research team.<\/p>

\u201cIt was a total surprise that [PRLH] cells were activated by the perception of taste,\u201d added Dr Truong Ly<\/a>, the study’s lead author. \u201cIt shows that there are other components of the appetite-control system that we should be thinking about.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>

The new imaging technology developed for this research could also be used to better understand well-known weight suppressors, such as Semaglutide.<\/p>

\u201cNow we have a way of teasing apart what\u2019s happening in the brain that makes these drugs work,\u201d Knight said.<\/p>

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>