“I am not a picky eater!” has been the last sentence of one
too many arguments with my friends. I now have scientific data to back me up! 25%
of the world population is considered to be supertasters. Women are more likely
to be supertasters than men; also, people of Asian, African, and South American
decent have a higher probability of being supertasters than Caucasians, which
have the lowest proportion of all populations. Guess what?! I am a woman of African
descent!
“Supertasting” has been attributed to a genetic variation in the genes encoding the taste receptors for bitter tastants, TAS2R38 and TAS1R2. However, due to the wide array of bitter taste receptors, not enough conclusive data has been collected to confirm this hypothesis. Along those same lines, “supertasting” has also been proposed as an evolutionary advantage. Supertasters learn not to eat bitter, usually poisonous, foods after the first taste rather than after getting sick. This ability may signify the difference between dying/surviving. However, it can also be argued that too much sensitivity could be detrimental as it restricts what a person could possibly eat. From this point of view, one may be inclined to say that medium-tasters are better suited for survival since they are sensible enough to avoid poisonous foods but also have a wider range of bitter tastes, which allows them to have a more varied diet.
The questions remain: can you grow out of being a supertasters? Can you get used to certain bitter foods? I shall find out and let you know!
Interesting that they have coined a term for people with a more sensitive palate. I take it by your opening line that many of your friends accuse you of being picky, and you are trying to convince them you are not? If this is the case, it seems that science has indicated that they are correct, and that you are more sensitive to foods you should likely avoid.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I am a fairly picky eater. I was extremely picky as a child, and have opened up quite a bit in the last 6 or 7 years. However, I'm not sure that it has to do with any supertaster gene, because most of the things I don't like are common vegetables. Pretty much if its green, raw, or goes in a salad, I cannot stand the taste of it. So, perhaps there is also mutations the other direction, where there is a sensitivity making good foods taste "bitter" for lack of the appropriate word. I would be very interested to know if this is the case, especially if there was a way to overcome it. What I wouldn't give to like salad.
Thanks for commenting Damon! I should have made my statement "I am not picky" more clear. What I meant to say is that I am not picky by choice, it is not something I can control.
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