Does this taste funny to you? Supertasters and health issues genetically linked

finance.yahoo.com/news/people-who-taste-too-much-162241511.html

I hope the above link is allowed, if not, please remove it.

I bring this up because an idea was brought up in another thread about endocronologists and other docs running DNA tests on patients prior to prescribing meds, as some bodies react differently, and these are predictors on dosages, effectiveness, etc. I remembered a story about a chef who had found a chemical that part of the population can't detect with their taste buds, but others get a strong reaction to it.

Now there's research being done to tie the two together, more from a dietitian's standpoint. But other research is at the stage where they have a pretty good idea about the receptors for those flavors and the susceptibility to upper respiratory infections.

Major leap forward. What you taste, or don't like, can indicate things that can go on inside the body. We are living in wondrous times. We have this resource called the internet, and there's already DNA testing for specific diseases. Does not mean they can be changed, because that would involve changing your DNA. A pretty tall order.

I just found it fascinating, and since I had brought it up in another thread just a couple of days ago, I saw this story this morning and had to put it out there. The future of medicine is in the genetic aspect of it, And as a nerd at heart, the possibilities are endless.

As you get older, your taste buds become less sensitive. That's why so many older people, or people with an organic brain disorder, tend have a sweet tooth. They use more sugar in their coffee than they used to. Sweet is one taste (vs salty, bitter, sour and umami) that does not decrease as quickly, so the craving for flavor of any kind usually results in sweet being used.

I have a sweet tooth, but my biggest craving is for Blueberries, love them, wish I could get them year round, fresh and sweet, I go to a farm here in Houston and pick them early the very first day they say they open in May....

Interesting series. I've often thought meds play a role in the sheer amount of sweets I ingest. I never used sugar in my coffee and the last time I was pregnant I couldn't drink it if it wasn't full of sugar,almost syrupy.

Afterwards I continued to drink it the same way. Pregnancy has always caused strange cravings,some healthy,some not. In another pregnancy I craved the smell of pine? Didnt want to ingest it just smell it. Used pine sol for everything. Got those smelly cheap toilet things,the kind you hang on the inside of the bowl? Pine scented.

Pine scented candles burned all the time. It was really strange. Almost alarmingly so. Had to have the smell.

Women have been known to crave dirt and grass,coffee grounds,always told the body needed some mineral or something that was being used up by the baby's development.

Alcoholics crave sweets and coffee,those recovering from the alcoholism and never drank it before start.

Has to be something that is far more complex then a craving.

Vickie

I have read of "pica" too, supposed cravings of something missing in your body's need, very interesting what some will ingest.

As far as alcohol and sweets, I would be the contradiction to that. I haven't drank in 40 years, and I mean 100% abstained, not even a sip of beer or wine, yet I crave sweets constantly. And no, never ever had a blood sugar problem either, my wife is a nurse and checks my blood sugar on a regular basis.

It's mostly a chocolate craving, but if chocolate isn't handy, I digress to anything sweet in sight. Sugar is suppose to "feed" prostate cancer cells, so for me with advanced prostate cancer, its probably like pouring gas onto a fire.

david