{"id":57296,"date":"2025-01-08T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=57296"},"modified":"2026-09-15T00:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T07:59:10","slug":"can-we-train-our-taste-buds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/can-we-train-our-taste-buds\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Train Our Taste Buds for Better Health?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Monica Dus \u2022 Originally published by <\/b>The Conversation<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n

Have you ever wondered why only hummingbirds sip nectar from feeders?<\/p>\n

Unlike sparrows, finches, and most other birds, hummingbirds can taste sweetness<\/a> because they carry the genetic instructions<\/a> necessary to detect sugar molecules.<\/p>\n

Like hummingbirds, humans can sense sugar because our DNA contains gene sequences coding for the molecular detectors<\/a> that allow us to detect sweetness.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s more complex than that. Our ability to sense sweetness, as well as other tastes, involves a delicate dance between our genetic makeup and the foods we encounter from the womb to the dinner table.<\/p>\n

Neuroscientists like me<\/a> are working to decipher how this intricate interplay between genes and diet<\/a> shapes taste.<\/p>\n

In my laboratory<\/a> at the University of Michigan, we are diving deeply into one specific aspect: how consuming too much sugar dulls the sense of sweetness<\/a>. Taste is so central to our eating habits that understanding how genes and the environment shape it has crucial implications for nutrition<\/a>, food science<\/a>, and disease prevention<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Role of Genes in Sensing Taste<\/h2>\n

As with hummingbirds, the human ability to discern what food tastes like<\/a> depends on the presence of taste receptors. These molecular detectors are found on sensory cells housed inside the taste buds, the sensory organs on the tongue’s surface.<\/p>\n

The interactions between taste receptors and food molecules<\/a> give rise to the five basic taste qualities: sweetness, savoriness, bitterness, saltiness, and sourness. These qualities are transmitted from the mouth to the brain via specific nerves.<\/p>\n

For instance, when sugar binds to the sweet receptor, it signals sweetness. Our innate preference for the taste of some foods over others is rooted in how the tongue and the brain became wired during our evolutionary history<\/a>. Taste qualities signaling the presence of essential nutrients and energy, like salt and sugar, send information to brain areas linked to pleasure. Conversely, tastes that alert us to potentially harmful substances, such as the bitterness of certain toxins, are connected to those that make us feel discomfort or pain<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the presence of genes encoding for functional taste receptors in our DNA allows us to detect food molecules<\/a>, how we respond to these also depends on the unique combination of taste genes we carry.<\/strong> Like ice cream, genes, including those for taste receptors, come in different flavors.<\/p>\n

Take, for instance, a taste receptor for bitterness called TAS2R38. Scientists found small changes in the genetic code<\/a> for the TAS2R38 gene among different people. These genetic variants affect how people perceive the bitterness of vegetables<\/a>, berries, and wine.<\/p>\n\n

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