Supertasters --- Are You a Supertaster? Related Links Taste Buds-How to Regain Your Sense of Taste Taste Buds Are the Secret to Losing Weight How to Curb Your Taste for Sweets Why Can't I Taste Anything?-Causes and Top 10 Remedies Metallic Taste In Your Mouth-Causes and Top 10 Natural Remedies Burning Mouth Syndrome-Causes and Cures Sugar-The Disease Connection Dry Mouth -Causes and Cures December 1, 2009, last updated January 4, 2012 By Sara Ott, Associate Editor and Featured Columnist What Is a Supertaster? Most of us are born with about 10,000 taste buds. These taste buds give us the ability to sense salt, sweet, sour bitter and umami, the earthy taste that comes from slow-cooked foods. Compared to other animals, we humans have been shortchanged. Some insects can taste with their antennae and feet as well as their mouths. Fish can taste with their fins and tails as well as their mouths. Cows have 25,000 taste buds and rabbits have 17,000. Our 10,000 taste buds are located mostly on our tongues. But at birth, we also had taste buds on the sides of our mouths and on the roof. Women, it appears, have more taste buds than men but tend to lose them earlier--around age 40, while men don't start to lose the number of buds until age 60. Although most of us are born with 10,000 taste buds, some of us --around 25%--are born with more. These so-called "supertasters" can have as many as 20,000 to 25,000 taste buds. For supertasters, taste is more vivid. Salt is saltier, sweet is sweeter, bitter is more bitter, spicy is spicer. How to Tell If You Are a Supertaster? Research has suggested that you are more likely to be a supertaster if you are female, or of Asian, African or South American descent. This sensitivity to bitter tastes is not just down to a high number of taste buds. Scientists have discovered that some people carry a form of the taste bud gene that makes their taste buds more sensitive to the bitter taste of the substance 6-n-propylthiouracil (also known as PROP). If you carry this gene, and you have a high number of taste buds on your tongue, you are likely to be a supertaster. Children are also reported to be more sensitive to bitter flavours than adults. This might explain why children are often picky eaters, especially when it comes to green vegetables. The Diet of a Supertaster If you are a supertaster you may not like to eat bitter tasting green vegetables such as broccoli. You maybe particularly sensitive to the bitter taste of cabbage or brussel sprouts. You may also avoid strong coffee, chocolate, salty foods, or very sugary and sweet foods. The Diet of an Average Taster Average tasters tend to like sweet, fat and alcohol. Sound familiar? This may go a long ways toward explaining why Americans tend to eat more fatty foods and have a sweeter tooth than Asians or Africans or South Americans. [Update: A 2011 study has confirmed that your ability to taste goes a long way toward explaining why some people are naturally fatter than others. The study, cled by Dr. E. Feeney and Dr. S. O'Brien from the UCD Institute of Food and Health in the Republic of Ireland, examined the differences in body weight between average tasters, and supertasters. People who have a poor sense of taste, called "non-tasters" have higher body weights than average tasters or supertasters.] For those of us who are "average" tasters, fortunately, there are ways to turn your taste buds into an ally in your quest to lose weight. Home Related Links: Taste Buds--5 Tips For Improving Your Sense of Taste Taste Buds--The Secret to Losing Weight Curbing Your Taste for Sweets Curbing Your Taste for Salt Curbing Your Taste for Alcohol and Carbs Loss Your Appetite?-10 Conditions That Could Be to Blame Foods That Reduce Your Blood Pressure Snoring Increases Your Risk of Stroke by 67% My Heart Attack Why Your Waist Size Matters Why We Americans Read In Bathrooms--The Hidden Health Epidemic National Institutes of Health |
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