Scientists have a greater appreciation of fructose’s full flavor. The sugar, which is found predominantly in fruit, honey and more recently high-fructose corn syrup, tickles taste cells found on the pancreas (that’s right, the pancreas) (SN: 3/27/10, p. 22). The interaction can crank up the body’s secretion of insulin, which may be a concern for people prone to diabetes, researchers report online February 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Experiments with mouse and human cells and living mice reveal that fructose activates the same proteins in pancreatic cells that the tongue uses to taste sweets. When these cells are exposed to glucose — the sugar that is body’s main source of energy — and then get a hit of fructose, the cells pump out more insulin than with glucose alone, the researchers found.
“This is really beautiful mechanistic work,” says nutrition and metabolism expert Kathleen Melanson of the University of Rhode Island in Kingston. The research adds to a growing body of evidence demonstrating that taste cells are not just the province of the tongue, says Melanson, who was not involved with the new study.