"sweet tooth" news and stories

I have always had something of a sweet tooth. At the age of two, I knew how to spell ice cream, foiling my parents' clever attempts to plan out treats for themselves for after I went to bed. As I got older, I was a fool for Jolly Ranchers, Sugar Daddies and Lik-M-Aid.

These days, the desire for sweet things remains, although I try to keep it in check for the sake of my dental health and waistline. However, I often find myself craving something sweet after lunch or dinner and if I'm not careful, those sugar yearnings can explode into some seriously unwise indulgences.

Thankfully, about six months ago, I discovered Sweetriot. These tiny, dark chocolate-cover cacao nibs satisfy my need for a sweet treat without blowing the calorie bank and for some unknown reason, I'm able to make a single 1-ounce tin last for weeks. There's something about the marginally sweet dark chocolate, coupled with the slightly bitter crunch of the nib that keeps my tastebuds happy.

If you're a chocolate lover who needs something tiny to keep your sugar cravings tame, I highly recommend these little guys.

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I always thought there was such a thing as a sweet tooth. You know, that love of the taste of sugary foods. Most of us have probably heard about that tooth from the very beginning. Some scientists are working on changing that perception, though.

They've been researching this topic, and they think that people aren't really addicted to the sweet taste of sugary foods. The researchers are discovering that the brain senses the yummy calories from the sugar and in response it releases hormones that make us feel happy. The people studying this question say it has very little to do with actual taste, and they're proving it on mice with no "sweetness" taste buds. The mice still love sweets even though they supposedly cannot taste the actual sugar.

Of course, the researchers are also working on how to use this information to "turn off" the sweet tooth. Blasphemy! Outrageous! First some scientists think they've found a cure for chocoholism and now they want to take away my sweet tooth! I just don't know what the world is coming to when everyone is trying to take away my few pleasures in life. What about you? Do want to keep your sweet tooth?

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A new study from Cornell University claims to have found a connection between cravings for sweet snacks and fruit, the Associated press reports. The study, published in the journal Appetite, was lead by Cornell marketing professor and food psychology expert Brian Wansink. Based on roughly 14,000 responses collected from the USDA as well as other surveys collected by Cornell researchers, the study found that those who ate more sugary snacks also ate larger amounts of fruit than those who preferred salty snacks. "Fruit lovers," as the study calls them, also tended to eat more sweet foods than those who had a stronger preference for vegetables. The researchers hope the study can be useful for helping dieters transition to healthier foods.