Can I Train Myself Not to Have a Sweet Tooth?
Your sweet tooth is written in the stars: your genes determine whether you find sweet foods especially irresistible. But that doesn’t mean you must be at the mercy of your sweet tooth.
In most people, the liver produces a hormone called FGF21 (fibroblast growth factor 21) that applies the brakes to sugar cravings. However, some people are genetically hardwired to produce less of this hormone. If that’s you, you’re more likely to have a sweet tooth—and also get greater pleasure from alcohol!
You have thousands of taste receptors peppered all over your tongue, and their sensitivity to certain tastes (including sweetness) is unique to you like a fingerprint. Whether you find sweet foods very sickly or coriander soapy is down to the roll of the genetic dice. You may find you gradually lose your sweet tooth—taste receptors are recycled every 10 days. As we get older, these regenerated taste buds become progressively dulled.
The pleasure you get from any particular food is also knitted to your emotional memory of when you last ate it—and that’s something you have agency over. If you enjoyed a decadent chocolate dessert during a special moment with a loved one, that may well be enough to turn an occasional cake eater into a cookie monster. Try nonsweet snacks to pair enjoyable memories with new foods.
Want to keep your sweet tooth in check?
1
cut down on sugar—within a week or two, you get just as much pleasure from lower sugar alternatives.
2
find a favorite savory snack, eat it, and savor the feeling to tie it in to your emotional register, making it more likely you’ll want to eat it again.
Live Your Best Life | Can I Train Myself Not to Have a Sweet Tooth?
