Abstract
Humans love the taste of sugar and the word "sweet" is used to describe not only this basic taste quality but also something that is desirable or pleasurable, e.g., la dolce vita. Although sugar or sweetened foods are generally among the most preferred choices, not everyone likes sugar, especially at high concentrations. The focus of my group's research is to understand why some people have a sweet tooth and others do not. We have used genetic and molecular techniques in humans, rats, mice, cats and primates to understand the origins of sweet taste perception. Our studies demonstrate that there are two sweet receptor genes (TAS1R2 and TAS1R3), and alleles of one of the two genes predict the avidity with which some mammals drink sweet solutions. We also find a relationship between sweet and bitter perception. Children who are genetically more sensitive to bitter compounds report that very sweet solutions are more pleasant and they prefer sweet carbonated beverages more than milk, relative to less bitter-sensitive peers. Overall, people differ in their ability to perceive the basic tastes, and particular constellations of genes and experience may drive some people, but not others, toward a caries-inducing sweet diet. Future studies will be designed to understand how a genetic preference for sweet food and drink might contribute to the development of dental caries.
Highlights
The sense of taste gives us important information about the nature and quality of food, and of all the basic taste qualities, sweetness is the most universally liked
The human appetite for refined sugar and for sweet foods and drinks has been so strong that it has influenced the course of human history, and the recent and sharp rise in the consumption of sugar may be unprecedented
Due to the disinclination of subjects to report all the foods they consume correctly [83], especially ones they may consider "naughty," such as highly sweetened candies and cookies, other proxy measures of sweet consumption can be used to evade reporter bias, such as the measurement of dental caries [42,84]. These psychophysical and behavioral tests may be used with other indices, such as the measurement of appetite and weight-regulating hormones, to determine the physiology underlying the effect of body weight on the perception, preference, and appetite for sweet foods [33,85]
Summary
The sense of taste gives us important information about the nature and quality of food, and of all the basic taste qualities, sweetness is the most universally liked. Due to the disinclination of subjects to report all the foods they consume correctly [83], especially ones they may consider "naughty," such as highly sweetened candies and cookies, other proxy measures of sweet consumption can be used to evade reporter bias, such as the measurement of dental caries [42,84] These psychophysical and behavioral tests may be used with other indices, such as the measurement of appetite and weight-regulating hormones, to determine the physiology underlying the effect of body weight on the perception, preference, and appetite for sweet foods [33,85]. Whether children who eat little sugar in childhood will like sugar less as adults is not known
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