Presenting

GRAVITAS MAGAZINE GravitasMag.com | 19 FINANCE Alternative Lending Source Securing financial capital is one of the biggest challenges facing entrepreneurs and female businesses owners. Strict bank lending qualifications limit funding to only a select group of owners while cash advance companies thrive on sky rocketing fees and terms for candidates. Now a new, one-stop financial alternative called Fundera lets lenders compete for businesses, similar to shopping for flights or car loans. Fundera matches lenders with business owners, allowing them to shop and compare multiple offers. Owners submit an application through the free service and receive the offers within minutes. HEALTH Missing Link e answer to fighting obesity may not be through diet and exercise, but rather through gene manipulation. Health experts are studying how this genetic link can be manipulated, and possibly even reversed. New research suggests there exists a faulty version of the FTO gene in some patients, which causes fat to be stored as energy rather than burned off. ese new findings could open the door to pharmaceutical companies creating specific gene- targeted drugs with long lasting and life altering benefits. Is there any nutritional difference between farm- raised eggs or the generic ones we buy at the grocery store? New research says no. While farmer's market aficionados proudly support local farmers claiming that the taste that makes all the difference, it may be more lifestyle factors that contribute to the fresh tasting eggs. Unlike chickens raised in massive coops and fed chemically processed grains, farm-raised chickens are left free to roam where they are fed leftover fruits and vegetables along with insects and worms. It is this difference in lifestyle and diet that contributes to their preferable taste and expensive price tag. ECONOMY This Egg or That Egg We've always known there were five different taste receptors on our tongues: salty, bitter, sweet, sour, and umami. Now scientists have coined a potential sixth taste, known as Oleogustus. e name is Latin, meaning "taste of fat" which is, quite frankly, what it is. Like other tastes, Oleogustus has both a unique chemical signature and is able to trigger specific receptors in taste buds. Most people are only able to recollect the feeling of the chemical in their mouth, a product of its triglyceride heavy composition, and not the less than pleasant taste. HEALTH Sixth Sense IN THE KNOW

• Cover