ACS: Are you a supertaster?
Yesterday I tested my receptivity to 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP), by touching a paper with the substance with my tongue. According to researchers, about 25 percent of people can't taste PROP at all, 50 percent perceive it as somewhat bitter, and 25 percent find it horrifically bitter.
One tiny touch and I was running for Atlanta's favorite beverage, coca-cola, to quench the flavor. It tasted wretched! The taste lingered for hours, but it was worth it to know that I am in the elite club of the supertasters.
Click below to read more.
According to Linda Bartoshuk, a health psychologist at the University of Florida in Gainsville, supertasters more than usually sensitive to taste, and have more tastebuds on their tongues. This is good news for me, because supertasters have a lower risk of heart disease, roughly because they need less fat and sweet to please them. But it is also bad news—supertasters often find vegetables unpleasant because of their slight bitterness and texture, so they eat less of them and therefore have a higher risk of colon polyps.
Luckily, I can act as a living example that these kinds of generalizations, while often useful in public health, are by no means rigid sentences handed down by the almighty gene gods. I quite like vegetables.
Interestingly, Bartoshuk has found that chefs are more likely to be supertasters. And, she says, "Caucasian men win the international booby prize" for being non-tasters—those 25 percent that don't taste PROP at all.
Bartoshuk herself is a non-taster. She put the whole PROP paper in her mouth, which made me cringe. She says she has never tasted anything that was "too sweet". Meanwhile, when I am in the south I take my meals with "unsweet" iced tea, which is how you order it if you don't want them to sugar it for you. Sweet tea, to me, tastes revoltingly sweet. So, are you a supertaster or a non-taster?
Read more about Bartoshuk's work at www.nature.com/news/2001/010222/full/010222-13.html
Comments
How can I get PROP?
I'd like to have a try
Posted by: J.F | March 29, 2006 12:19 PM
Linda Bartoshuk tells me the same experiment can be done with "PTC paper", which is available from Carolina Biological Supply.
https://www2.carolina.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?jdeAddressId=&catalogId=10101&storeId=10151&productId=4328&langId=-1&parent_category_rn=&crumbs=n
The page says that 7 out of ten can taste it. Presumably about 3 out of ten also taste it very strongly.
Posted by: Emma Marris | March 31, 2006 03:38 PM
I, too, am a supertaster; although my family laughs at the thought. I found out when I read a short article in Time magazine about it some years ago. I spent most of my life with people telling me my food had "no flavor". They covered it with salt and Lowry's Seasonings, and I couldn't understand what they were talking about.
A hatred of coffee, I think, is the biggest signal. Also, I'm right with you in a love of Coke and a love of veggies. Although I don't do raw ones. I must cook them until the texture changes. I, do, however, love tomatoes in all forms.
Posted by: Lynda | November 8, 2006 12:35 AM
If you're a vegetable hater, go ahead and blame your parents: How intensely we experience bitterness in our broccoli is genetic. About a third of all Americans fall into the category of "supertasters." Compared with the rest of us, these people are exquisitely sensitive to bitter tastes and perceive them more intensely, says Danielle Reed, PhD, of Philadelphia's Monell Chemical Senses Center.
Posted by: Jeremy | December 12, 2006 03:31 PM
I am a supertaster and I can't tell you how I HATE explaining myself to others who just think I'm picky. My husband is a non-taster and he insists on me "trying" his hot sauces when the smell alone can make cry. I wish we could trade places for day so he could suffer like I do. Oh well, I will stick with no-dressing salads and plain popcorn please. No cheese for me, too bitter.
Posted by: Carrie | February 1, 2007 07:15 PM
I'm a supertaster and one of my kids is, too. We did the blue food dye on the tongue and a 7-mm hole in a piece of paper test. 47 taste buds here! I am SO sick and tired of family members calling us spoiled rotten or trying to force feed us. Most of them appear to be nontasters because they will eat anything and don't understand what it's like to be immediately nauseated by certain tastes or textures. Some of them even imply that I'm a bad parent because I choose to acclimate my child to new foods instead of force feeding him to the point of vomiting on the table. Leave the kid alone and he'll learn to like new foods at his own pace. Force feed him and cause an eating disorder.
Posted by: Michelle S. | April 12, 2007 06:37 PM
I just came across this discussion by accident while researching Anosmia. Anosmia is the inability to smell and I have this condition and I thought it was interestiong to note that I am also a non-taster because we did the PROP test in school and I didnt taste anything. I can still taste other things (although probably not as well as someone who has a sense of smell). I thought it was interesting that I am a nontaster and an anosmic and thought that maybe it was the opposite for you supertasters out there. You guys should pay attention and see if you have a really good sense of smell to go with your taste.
Posted by: Evan D | April 15, 2007 08:06 PM
I found out about 30mins ago that I am a supertaster - the hard way. I just had my medication changed after 4 years on the same one, and now Im taking "propylthiouracil" as it is called. As you can imagine it tastes HORIFFIC!!!!! i dont know how long I will be able to stay on the tablets. Maybe my tounge will fall of and spare me the pain.
Anyway, thanks for this article :)
Posted by: Natalie | May 31, 2007 10:52 AM
I'm pleased to find this site -- after years of struggling with school and camp officials who thought I ought to eat, or like, certain foods. I cannot tolerate most sweet foods (except vanilla ice cream in small quantities -- apparently the milk and fat mask the sweet taste a little). Surprised at you folks who are supertasters and yet can drink Coke -- I find it too bitter AND too sweet. I dislike many vegetables, but not because of their bitterness (except for kale or turnip greens), rather their texture.
My family was very supportive (though neither parent is a supertaster, my maternal grandfather apparently was), but I started getting in trouble in first grade, for refusing Graham crackers -- to me repulsively sweet. That was in the late 1950's, and no one understood this problem at the time.
I DO like lots of fats, apparently for stress relief and mood alteration, though I can certainly detect the texture. I don't find it off-putting unless I no longer need the stress relief. Therefore, I don't fit the pattern of thin female supertasters -- been struggling with my weight since an episode of depression 13 years ago, and am still about 60 lbs. overweight.
Posted by: Catriona M. Mac Kirnan | July 4, 2007 05:23 PM
My science teacher gave the class the PROP test in school. Some of them just sat there. They were probably wondering what the heck was going on because I, and several other students ran for the door. Too bad we only had water!
Posted by: April | August 6, 2008 01:17 AM
hi i am a doctor myself and i know for sure that i am a supertaster.and it gives me a lot of trouble.just think of explaining to patients about the benefits of veggies when i my find them horrific especially spinach and cabbage.maybe i have a more severe form coz i practically hate fatty and sweet foods and so it gives me a hard time to gain weight as i am underweight.all the prescribed diets are completely centered around fatty foods and oils.does anyone know of some kind of food that tastes good and is wholesome at the same time?
Posted by: naeem hasanfatta | August 21, 2008 01:38 AM