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Learn more about what it means to be a supertaster!
Exploring Modern Taste Research
In 1931, chemist A.F. Fox was involved in a lab accident that may have precipitated our current understanding of the physiology of taste. Fox and a colleague were exposed to the supertaster chemical and though Fox tasted nothing in the ambient air, his colleague reported a bitter taste in his mouth.
The Impact of Taste on Diet and Cancer Risk
The bitterness of cruciferous vegetables is experienced more intensely by supertasters which may put roughly 25% of the population at increased risk for certain cancers, especially colon cancer. Researchers found that the number of pre-cancerous polyps present in the colon has a direct correlation to the subject’s ability to taste bitterness.
Is Your Tongue Jam Packed with Taste Buds?
Some of us are born with blue eyes and some with brown, some have more freckles, some have curly hair and some of us, lucky or unlucky depending on your outlook, are born with more taste buds than the rest. Supertasters, as they are known have tongues that are jam packed with taste buds, as many as 1,100 per square centimeter.
Your Unique Sense of Taste Shapes the Foods You Crave
The cravings we experience for our favorite snacks may have more to do with biology than previously thought. Depending on the number of taste receptors you were born with, you may be more or less sensitive to the bitterness of vegetables, the heat of chili peppers or the texture of fat and foods you crave and foods you avoid are decided by physiology before personality.
Is Your Child Genetically Predisposed to Being a Picky Eater?
Some children can be notoriously picky eaters, but one study suggests that a chronic avoidance of vegetables in particular may not be obstinance, but rather a genetic predisposition towards intense dislike of the bitter compounds found in many vegetables.
Bitter Taste Perception May Influence Alcohol Consumption and Abuse
Our predisposition for bitter taste perception may determine the extent to which we consume alcohol and possibly the extent to which we abuse it.
