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Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Are you a supertaster?



Have you ever wondered why you like the taste of certain foods and despise others? Based on the sensitivity to different compounds one can be classified as a "Nontaster" or a "Supertaster". Not sure which one you are? No worries, just grab the following items and read through the tip below! 

Mirror
Flashlight
Wax Paper
Hole Puncher
Magnifying Glass
Blue Food Coloring
And the ability to count =)

Supertasters 

You love sweet and your spouse loves salty; you love spicy and your best friend likes mild… Did you ever wonder why food doesn't taste the same to all of us?

Genes, gender and age all affect why we enjoy the foods we do, but the intensity of taste depends partly on how many fungiform papillae a person has on his or her tongue. Fungiform papillae are tiny, smooth red bumps with clusters of taste receptor cells, or more commonly known as taste buds.
Some people, known as supertasters, have a lot of papillae. Because of this they experience the flavor of food more intensely than nontasters, better tasting bitter and sweet flavors. As a result, supertasters tend to strongly like or dislike certain foods.

To find out if you are a supertaster, use a hole punch to make a hole in a small piece of wax paper. Put the hole on the tip of your tongue and wipe it with blue food coloring. With a mirror, magnifying glass and flashlight, count the papillae. Nontasters have less than 15 but supertasters have dozens!

Whether you're a nontaster or supertaster, learn how to savor the foods you eat and maintain a healthy weight by consulting a registered dietitian nutritionist in your area.
For more tips head over to EatRight.Org!



Continue Reading as I continue my mission: Healthy Huggins!

2 comments:

  1. I had no idea! What an interesting post! Thanks for linking up with us!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Very interesting. Also good to know

    ReplyDelete

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