Discovering the bitter mystery
India Pale Ale (IPA) has conquered palates around the world, but there are those who avoid it with the same firmness that a teenager avoids colliding. If you are in this group and ask yourself why those lupulate beers do not make you tilín, it could be the fault of your genes, or more precisely, of a small gene called Tas2R38.
Genetics and flavor: Is the bitter genetic?
A group of researchers headed by John Hayes from the State University of Pennsylvania conducted a study that shows that not all humans are designed to enjoy bitterness. Dr. Valerie Duffy, Colega de Hayes, identifies 25% of the population that carries a variation in that gene. For them, bitter food might seem more intense, something that could explain why some consider that Brussels choles are a form of torture.
Bitter vegetables: alternative loves?
Duffy shares that she belongs to the lucky group that does not charge with this sensitivity. \ “When as bitter vegetables, they seem sweet. \” But what about the rest of us? Do people who feel that all vegetables are bitter end up avoiding the salad completely? Research seems to confirm that suspicion.
The vegetable experiment
In an attempt to verify their hypothesis, Duffy and his team recruited different participants to submit them to infant and bitter taste tests, while monitoring what they ate for a year. And the results were surprising: the least sensitive to bitter not only ate more Brussels, but also totaled more than 200 additional portions of vegetables compared to their most bitter peers.
Beyond bitterness
What is even more interesting is that people who showed high sensitivity to bitter taste not only avoided bitter vegetables, but in general, they filled their dish with less vegetables. When an individual associates an unpleasant taste with a type of food, it is likely that it generalizes this belief to other similar foods.
Multiple influences in our tastes
Dr. Duffy also argues that food choices are a battlefield between genetics and the environment. From the culinary preferences instilled by our parents to the experiences of flavors during our childhood, there are a lot of factors that affect how we do our selections in the menu.
Final reflections: the evolutionary palate of the consumer
Interestingly, despite the fact that beers with high hops content have risen in popularity during the last two decades, 20 years ago they were like a rar in the beer world. Today we can look back and see how our gustatory papillae have adapted, bringing out a new trend in which everyone, even those with a sensitive palate, are learning to love those intense flavors.
