Research

Hormonal

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) acts as a specific negative feedback signal that reduces carbohydrate (sweet) preference in response to high sugar intake.

High sugar intake triggers the release of FGF21, a hormone that naturally reduces your desire for sweets. Consistently high sugar intake may blunt this system or require higher thresholds to trigger it. Reducing initial sugar loads may help restore this natural regulatory feedback loop.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Circulating FGF21 activated hypothalamic PVN neurons and decreased sweet preference [102,103]. Therefore, FGF21 serves as a negative feedback signal to the CNS and regulates carbohydrate preference.
Tsutomu Sasaki · Nutrients · 2017

Why this rating

Supported by human data showing FGF21 peaks after sucrose challenges and animal studies showing causal links between FGF21 and reduced sweet preference.

Source

Neural and Molecular Mechanisms Involved in Controlling the Quality of Feeding Behavior: Diet Selection and Feeding Patterns

Tsutomu Sasaki · Nutrients · 2017

DOI 10.3390/nu9101151

narrative_reviewCited 32×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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