Taste perception in normal and overweight Mexican adults

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity in Mexico is the highest in the world, with almost 70% of adults being classified as overweight or obese. The increased prevalence of obesity in Mexico, and globally, may be related to the changing food environment, providing increased access to highly palatable, but obesogenic, food products. One potential mechanism for this association is changing food perceptions, an area poorly studied in transitional countries. Thus, we conducted a study to determine the degree to which perception thresholds for four basic tastes are associated with anthropometric variables, hormone levels, and energy intake. Bitter and sweet taste had the lowest and highest thresholds, respectively, and women reported a greater sensitivity to these flavors compared to men. Overall, the perception thresholds to each flavor were not associated with energy intake or body mass index (BMI), while the perception threshold of aspartame was negatively associated with energy intake. Based on the results of our study, in a sample of Mexican adults, sensory taste response to basic flavors is not associated with energy intake or BMI.