Why do you love bitter gourds, but your friend doesn't? Let's talk about the Science of Taste!

Have you ever wondered why your best friend doesn't like a food you love? Some people are eager to eat a bitter gourd sambol, while others don't even want to look at it. Some people need three teaspoons of sugar in their tea, while others enjoy their tea without any sugar. This "taste" is actually very complex, and it is also very important to our lives. So today, let's talk about the science behind this taste in a simple and friendly way.

Is taste something that is only felt by the tongue?

Simply put, no. Taste is not something limited to our tongue. It is a wonderful combination of our sensory systems. Think about it, when we eat food, the smell of it, the way it looks, and even the sound we hear when we eat it all affect our taste experience. For example, when we eat a papadum, the real taste is felt with the "sniff" sound. When we drink coffee, we cannot experience the full flavor of the coffee without the aroma that comes with it.

How genes and habits affect taste

Our genes play a big role in determining our taste preferences. One reason why you might love to eat bitter gourd and your partner might not like it is because the genes that control the taste receptors that detect bitterness in both of you are different. This means that he may perceive a greater degree of bitterness than you do.

So are our experiences and habits. We learn from a young age what foods are safe. Surprisingly, this learning begins before we are even born. The baby in the womb learns about the flavors of the foods a mother eats during pregnancy through the amniotic fluid. Therefore, if the mother is used to eating spicy foods, the baby is likely to develop a preference for spicy foods.

Why do we all love sweets?

This is not surprising. As humans, we all have a natural preference for sweetness. This is because our brains are wired to respond positively to sweetness from the moment we are born. In nature, sweet foods (like fruit) are generally higher in energy and less likely to be toxic. So this has helped us survive.

But salt preferences vary greatly from person to person. Research has found a surprising factor that influences this: whether a mother has severe morning sickness during pregnancy.

Imagine, when a mother continues to vomit, her body loses a lot of sodium and other electrolytes. Studies have shown that this can affect the development of the baby in the womb, causing the baby to have a greater preference for salty tastes in the future.

Can you accustom your tongue to an unpleasant taste?

It may seem strange to get used to eating foods we don't like, but sometimes we have to. For example, when a doctor advises us to reduce sugar and salt due to conditions like diabetes or high blood pressure, we have to get used to those tastes even if we don't like them.

Imagine, you are someone who always drinks tea with two spoons of sugar. Now, because you want to reduce sugar, you drink tea without sugar. At first, it will taste very unpleasant. But after a few weeks, your tongue will get used to the taste. Then, if someone gives you tea with sugar, you will think, "Oh, this has too much sugar." This means that your tongue has become accustomed to the new taste pattern.

The 5 main tastes that our tongue perceives

When we were kids, we learned about the four main tastes in school: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. But now scientists have identified a fifth taste: Umami .

Umami is a taste that comes from the amino acid glutamate. It is naturally present in our bodies and in protein-rich foods. It is a taste that is similar to "meaty," "sour," or "sour." This taste helps us recognize protein-rich foods and encourage us to eat them.

The difference between taste and flavor

Although these two may seem the same, there is a big difference. If you hold your nose while eating a meal, you will understand this difference very well.

Simply put, Taste refers to the 5 basic tastes (sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami) that are detected by the taste buds on your tongue. But Flavor refers to the complete experience created by the brain, which includes these basic tastes, the smell of the food, its texture (e.g., is it soft or rough), and temperature.

For example, sugar has a sweet taste. But strawberry is a flavor. It is the combination of sweetness, sourness, and its own unique aroma that creates the strawberry flavor.

The best way to understand this is to hold your nose and eat two toffees that look the same but have different flavors. You'll taste it sweet, but you'll only know for sure if it's chocolate or coffee when you open your nose.

Also, spicy is not a taste. It is a sensation felt by our nervous system. Things like the spiciness of chili peppers and the coolness of mint are felt by a special nerve system in our mouth and nose, the ``Trigeminal nerve``.

How taste changes as you age

As we age, like many other functions in our bodies, our sense of taste also deteriorates. The taste buds on our tongues have a very short lifespan, with new cells being produced every few days. But as we age, this rate of new cells slows down.

Not only that, but our sense of smell also diminishes as we age. As we discussed earlier, smell is a big part of the taste experience, so when our sense of smell diminishes, we also lose the ability to fully appreciate the flavor of food.

Who is a "Supertaster"?

Here's another interesting fact. "Supertasters" are people who are genetically wired to have a very strong bitter taste . They can taste bitter things several times more than the average person. That's why they often don't like bitter foods like bitter gourd, coffee, and some greens. So if your friend hates even looking at bitter foods, they might be a "supertaster"!