Researchers Confirm 'Fat Taste' in Humans

Credit: iStockphoto/Andrey Stepanov) via Science DailyLove to Eat| New Zealand researchers have confirmed that humans, not only animal models, can detect a sixth taste — fat.

“We know that the human tongue can detect five tastes — sweet, salt, sour, bitter and umami (a taste for identifying protein rich foods). Through our study we can conclude that humans have a sixth taste — fat,” said Dr Russell Keast of Deakin University.

In the results of a screening procedure, people exhibited a taste threshold for fat that varies from one individual to another.

“Interestingly, we also found that those with a high sensitivity to the taste of fat consumed less fatty foods and had lower BMIs than those with lower sensitivity,” Dr Keast said. The researchers will next examine whether the fat taste sensitivity is genetically inherited, perhaps desensitized over time or stems from other possibilities. Read on Discovery of ‘fat’ taste could hold the key to reducing obesity via Science Daily