Gigabiting
Are You a Supertaster?
.
Most of us are born with around 10,000 taste buds on our tongues; many more and you’re a supertaster.
About 25% of us are supertasters– more women than men. It can be a mixed blessing. Flavors are perceived more vividly. Salt is saltier. Sugar is sweeter. But carbonation bubbles can be distractingly prickly. Hot peppers can be punishing. Hardly a garden of gustatory delights.
Taste is one of the most basic of all human experiences. It is also one of the most complex. It is dependent upon experience, context, and genetics. It embraces all of the senses.
It begins with the tongue.
Supertasters’ tongues are distinguished by two genetically determined traits. One is the profusion of taste buds densely packed into each square inch of the tongue’s surface. The greater sensory capacity leads to more nuanced sensing of flavors. The second trait is the perception of the chemical compound 6-n-propylthiouracil known as PROP.
Most people perceive PROP as a slightly bitter taste. About a quarter of the population will fail to taste it at all. Supertasters are overwhelmed by an intense bitterness.
Supertasters tend to prefer orange juice to grapefruit, tea to coffee, green beans to broccoli, spinach to kale. They have a penchant for creamy, fatty foods but as a group are thinner than the general population, perhaps because the palate is more easily satisfied. As children, they are often known as picky eaters.
Supertasters that succeed in developing tolerance for strongly-flavored foods can benefit from this genetic endowment. They can perceive far more subtle and nuanced flavors than the rest of us, distinguishing individual notes in a complex dish. Quite a few wine connoisseurs attribute their discerning palates to supertaster status, including wine writer Robert Parker who famously insured his taste buds for one million dollars.
Does this sound like you? There are a few tests to determine if you possess either of the attributes of a supertaster.
Bland, vile, or somewhere in between? The Supertaster Test Kit contains two sets of PROP-infused strips and a detailed test guide.
For an easy home test, swab a little food coloring on your tongue and check the number and concentration of taste buds.
Take this quick and easy quiz about food preferences to see if you could be a supertaster.
5 Responses to “Are You a Supertaster?”
Leave a Reply
-
-
Blog: Gigabiting Topics:cooking, food, technology
March 10th, 2010 at 8:55 am
I have tested as a super taster and also was trained to be a sensory analyst. Sometimes it’s a burden because I taste things that others don’t. Nice article!
March 10th, 2010 at 9:12 am
There are a lot of sensory analysts in this area (Philadelphia) because of all the flavorings work done for the pharmaceutical industry. i always wondered if they had the ability to shut it down and just enjoy a meal.
May 12th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
[...] have more tastebuds than men and are more likely to be ultra- discerning supertasters. And while we know that red wine reduces the risk of stroke and cardiovascular disease in men and [...]
July 15th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
[...] nourishment, satisfying both body and soul, and doing it with integrity. Sometimes we cook to the supertaster sensibility. Sometimes we just need to get dinner on the [...]
August 19th, 2010 at 11:58 am
[...] dulled sense of taste, a childhood trauma centered around food, and the heightened perceptions of a supertaster, There is no known diagnostic category; traditional eating disorders are all organized around [...]