Are you a supertaster?

[therese]

"Normal"

I think that this test might be a reasonable means of screening some populations for supertasters, but not the eGullet cohort, as we're likely to engage in some of the various behaviors assigned to supertasters for other reasons (specifically because we are very, very interested in food). And in fact I'd guess that true supertasters are lower frequency in the eGullet cohort than in the general population.

[Catherine Iino]

According to the test, I am one the supertasters whose favorite foods are the ones I should dislike.

The test IS broken. I know I am really not a supertaster. My older daughter is, in fact: when she was very young, she could distinguish different colors of m&ms without looking. She hated chocolate. Some young children who are really picky eaters are supertasters.

I actually have a long connection to Linda Bartoshuk, a Yale researcher who's been a leader in physiological taste research. She is a tremendously cool person. My husband was a research subject of hers and my younger daughter did a science project on supertasters under her tutelage. What the BBC test seems to confuse is supertasting and having a sophisticated palate. The fact is, chefs tend not to be supertasters, and supertasters tend not to like complex tastes that include bitter, which is just overwhelming for them. Being a supertaster is no virtue.

Here's a short summary article from the Yale Medical School's alumni magazine a while back:

To taste or not to taste

How individuals experience taste varies greatly, which explains why some people like broccoli and others flee at its very mention. An industrial chemist named Arthur Fox documented one basis for taste preference in 1931 while working with a compound called phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) for the DuPont Co. After the chemical was released accidentally into the air one day, a colleague remarked how bitter it tasted. Fox had noticed nothing.

Investigating further, the two scientists concluded that people fell into one of two groups: tasters and nontasters of PTC. Fox reported the findings later the same year in Science News. “The geneticists jumped right in,” says Linda Bartoshuk, Ph.D., “and by the next year, two family studies had been done dividing the world between tasters and nontasters. The research showed that the nontasters had two recessive genes.”

Bartoshuk began exploring the subtleties of taste in the 1970s as a Yale faculty member and investigator at the John B. Pierce Laboratory. She took Fox’s notion one step further, coining the term “supertaster” after identifying a third group of subjects whose taste buds were so numerous and so densely packed that foods such as grapefruit, coffee and dark green vegetables were overwhelmingly bitter. According to Bartoshuk, who uses a compound known as PROP (a thyroid medication) in her studies, the world falls into three groups: 25 percent nontasters, 50 percent medium tasters and 25 percent supertasters.

What’s the significance of her results? “The taste world you live in affects your food preferences,” she says. “The foods you choose to eat are associated with risk factors, and there are consequences to eating a high-sweet, high-salt, low-fiber diet. Being a supertaster also predisposes you to oral pain, another area we’re investigating.” Bartoshuk and her colleagues developed a taffy containing capsaicin, the substance that gives jalapeño peppers their fire, and proved it effective in relieving oral pain in cancer patients.

Long-standing research by taste scientists has established links between taste and sexual maturation (girls who are tasters mature six months earlier, on average, while boys are delayed six months), depression (tasters are more prone) and alcoholism (nontasters are more at risk). But those studies predate the discovery of the supertaster. “There’s work to be redone,” says Bartoshuk, “and there are many other avenues still not explored.” A colleague is working out the molecular biology of PROP sensitivity, a step forward that may lead to new pain therapies and a better understanding of taste disorders, diet and nutrition.

And here's a link (I hope) to a really great article that was published in the same issue, a conversation between Linda Bartoshuk and Jacques Pepin:

http://www.yalemedicine.yale.edu/ym_sp99/cover/taste1.html

[SheenaGreena]

The test IS broken. I know I am really not a supertaster. My older daughter is, in fact: when she was very young, she could distinguish different colors of m&ms without looking. She hated chocolate. Some young children who are really picky eaters are supertasters.

that's quite a talent, holy crap!

[markk]

I'm a "supertaster", and I've taken other tests with unrelated questions that also said that. But... I adore grapefruit, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and spinach!

[Rinsewind]

Hooray, I'm a supertaster!

Oh wait a minute, that's why my friends call me a picky eater and roll their eyes when I order at restaurants.

Oh well.

[Abra]

Interesting article, Catherine. Now my husband's a real supertaster. For example, he can't stand beer of almost any sort, claims it's unbearably bitter. Every so often one that's super low in hops tastes ok to him, but beer is basically out. He loves coffee...with milk and sugar. The tannins in red wine make him spit. A supertaster is what I don't want to be!

[dockhl]

According to the test I am a supertaster......and I LOVE bitter. Don't care much for sweet, love salty (esp CRUNCHY salty) There must be something about texture there, too, huh ?

Hooey, I say...........

[JAZ]

Having done a fair amount of research on this phenomenon, I have to say that this "test' is virtually worthless. As a previous post said, it's about ambiance and social constructs, not about tastebuds.

This quiz makes it seem as if being a supertaster is merely a matter of likes and dislikes in some vague sense. It's not, really. It's a matter of tastebuds and measurable sensitivities. There are a lot of reasons a person can dislike Brussels sprouts, for example -- just disliking them doesn't mean you're a supertaster. From what I've read, more reliable indicators are an aversion to alcohol, a violent dislike of bitter foods, and a virtual inability to tolerate spicy foods. Whether you like patios, or smell your food before tasting, or like to talk to your friends while you eat seem to me to be completely spurious questions in determining supertaster status. I can't believe a publication printed this.

[Pan]

The BBC Science and Nature website has a 5 question test that tells you if you are a normal, non or supertaster.  Five questions doesn't really seem like enough to go on, but it's here for the curious.

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Yeah, I think there should have been more questions, are at least more answers.

For what it's worth, they rated me between supertaster and normal taster, but based on their descriptions of what supertasters and normal tasters are like, it seems to me that I am much more of a normal than a supertaster.

[Kim Shook]

Having done a fair amount of research on this phenomenon, I have to say that this "test' is virtually worthless. As a previous post said, it's about ambiance and social constructs, not about tastebuds.

This quiz makes it seem as if being a supertaster is merely a matter of likes and dislikes in some vague sense. It's not, really. It's a matter of tastebuds and measurable sensitivities. There are a lot of reasons a person can dislike Brussels sprouts, for example -- just disliking them doesn't mean you're a supertaster. From what I've read, more reliable indicators are an aversion to alcohol, a violent dislike of bitter foods, and a virtual inability to tolerate spicy foods. Whether you like patios, or smell your food before tasting, or like to talk to your friends while you eat seem to me to be completely spurious questions in determining supertaster status. I can't believe a publication printed this.

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Now this makes sense to me, Jaz. This describes me so well. And goes with what I had always heard about supertasters, too. It really doesn't mean much to list taste preferences - those can change with age and you can even 'train' yourself to adjust these - I have 'trained' my tastebuds to enjoy darker chocolate. It seems more meaningful to talk about 'tolerances'. I truly cannot tolerate hot/spicy foods - I find eating them (including some bbq sauces that aren't considered 'hot' by 'normal' people) actually painful and they block my ability to taste at all. The 'endorphin rush' never, ever kicks in for me - I just experience my mouth getting hotter and hotter. Much better and more interesting info, Jaz. Thanks!

[Lilija]

The test is definitely silly. I'm a professional taster. I'm trained to pick out every nuance and flavor profile in something. Sometimes, I have to stop myself from tasting, and just eat stuff. Otherwise I find myself launching into work mode.

Has nothing to do with the ambience of the resturaunt, or whether you talk to your friends while eating. In fact, when I go into "tasting mode" as my husband calls it, I smack my lips and chew loudly, to get air mixed in with the food on my palate, and start talking with my stream of conciousness. The up side to this is, I have become VERY good at recreating dishes I taste elsewhere, only having them once.

I don't think I'm a "super taster", like somehow biologically or genetically more sensitive to flavors, though the test results say I am. I like most things, bitter, spicy, whatever. In fact, the more complex and bitter, the more I enjoy something. Gives me something to really taste.

Maybe the test should be something like "food appreciator" as in, if you really take the time to taste everything seperately, you're really appreciating all the subtlety? I don't really know.

Edited February 23, 2007 by Lilija (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

Joining supertasters who like the yucky stuff - coffee, grapefruit, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and spinach, etc.

[hummingbirdkiss]

I am also a Supertaster and love drinking coffee but am very picky about what I drink and can blindly distiguish the crappy stuff..I like all the foods they say I shouldn't especially spinach one of my favorite vegetables!

I am very picky about eating out and tend to break the foods down into flavors when I am eating and critique every bite ..I do this in my mind now because it made my family and friends nuts to listen to me pick apart food ....the more I enjoy a food the more I break it down trying to figure out how to recreate a dish ..

[ghostrider]

Of course the test is silly. It's about as useful as your daily horoscope. (Well, probably more accurate than that.) That's why the BBC adds all those lovely disclaimers in the fine print. If you want a more unequivocal analysis, you need to click the link at the bottom of the results page & do this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/bod...xperiment.shtml

The test has highlighted two interesting issues for me, though. First, I think that they should change the term to something like "hypertaster." Given that "super-" carries implications of "ultimate" & so forth, and knowing how keen my senses of taste & smell are, I was a bit miffed at first not to be considered a supertaster. Then I remembered that it really means "hypersensitive" more than "having a well developed palate."

Second, was I the only one to think that Question 3 was totally nuts? "The waiter takes your order and asks you how you'd like it served. How do you like your meal to be prepared?" I've never had a waiter, in the US or the UK, ask me whether I want the low-fat alternate version, or the sauces on the side, or the dish as the chef actually thinks it should be prepared. Where does this come from? Am I frequenting the wrong sort of places?

[Beth Wilson]

Ok. This is my first posting and I have to say, I think I broke the quiz. I got rated as both Normal and Supertaster.

Good thing, because I love coffee and brussel sprouts, but not together.

[ruthcooks]

It seems more meaningful to talk about 'tolerances'.  I truly cannot tolerate hot/spicy foods - I find eating them (including some bbq sauces that aren't considered 'hot' by 'normal' people) actually painful and they block my ability to taste at all.  The 'endorphin rush' never, ever kicks in for me - I just experience my mouth getting hotter and hotter. 

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Me, too, Kim. I've noticed in your posts that you and I often share preferences in food tastes. Wonder if being supertasters accounts for that?

If I eat the "bitter vegetables", I like preparations with cream, butter, cheese, etc. to temper the bitterness. I don't do alcohol because of medications, but back when I did I preferred sweet wines, mixed drinks with sugar and/or cream, and sweet liqueurs. I drink coffee and tea very weak, with sugar and/or cream. I have no tolerance for hot peppers, although I can tolerate a little hotness when the heat comes from other sources, like paprika.

I'm not fond of highly spiced foods, either, whether sweet (spice cake) or savory (curry). Black walnuts taste like aspirin, and English walnuts not much better.

Kinda like having a curse.

[djyee100]

I was a bit miffed at first not to be considered a supertaster.  Then I remembered that it really means "hypersensitive" more than "having a well developed palate."

Yes, this is an important point that others have brought up as well. One of my friends is so sensitive to bitter flavors that she can't drink wine because of the tannins. And she loves good food. Eeek! No wine with a fine dinner.

I've noticed that people who love and appreciate food will often try a food several times to check out if they really dislike the food, or if they can learn to like it. I wonder if that happened with the supertasters here who like bitter flavors.

As for myself, I rated neither supertaster nor normal, but something in between. Did I fall into the void? In real life I will eat any kind of food you put in front of me, not fussy at all, and I'll try anything at least once. Most memorably, some friends dared me to eat the fish eyeball from a roasted fish in a Chinese restaurant, and I did. It tasted very bland, like cartilage, and earned me all kinds of admiration that has persisted to this day.

Edited February 25, 2007 by djyee100 (log)

[dockhl]

I've noticed that people who love and appreciate food will often try a food several times to check out if they really dislike the food, or if they can learn to like it. I wonder if that happened with the supertasters here who like bitter flavors.

I think you may be on to something here. I am supposedly a supertaster but like bitter. When I think of all the things I am NOT supposed to like but do, I realize that I never liked them until I was in my 20's and started to enjoy food/cooking. Couldn't bear to eat a raw tomato (ecch) until I was 21 ! Now I'd walk a mile for one.

(BTW, for anyone reading this who may be from CA's Central Coast.....there is a guy at the Templeton Farmer's Market who is from CA Valley and grows hothouse Beefsteak tomatoes. I had some this week and they are AWESOME ! He picks them on Friday for Saturdays market )

So, to summarize, , some things CAN be overcome. There.

Kathy

[GTO]

These kind of tests never work, because you're always going to be drawn towards the choices which will lead to you receiving the result you want, not the actual result.

[markk]

I thought everybody might enjoy this article about "supertasters" from "Prevention" magazine.

[nikkib]

Supertaster who likes all the above, too. Funny, I thought that I'd burned off most of my tastebuds with wickedly spicy food long, long ago.

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me too!

[MicBacchus]

The questions were 'no brainers' - you know which answers to pick to end with the result of 'supertaster'.

Nevertheless, I am a supertaster, ofter referred to a 'picky' by non-supertaster friends and relatives!!

[eipi10]

I was normal. The way I see it, supertasters are not more likely to be foodies. It doesn't seem like it would be good to be a supertaster--it probably lessens enjoyment of food. In fact, it seems that nontasters would enjoy food the most because nothing would be offensively bitter or salty or sweet. What we really need is a test for supersmellers.

[Pan]

I was normal. The way I see it, supertasters are not more likely to be foodies. It doesn't seem like it would be good to be a supertaster--it probably lessens enjoyment of food. In fact, it seems that nontasters would enjoy food the most because nothing would be offensively bitter or salty or sweet. What we really need is a test for supersmellers.

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I have a friend who seems to be a supersmeller. I'm not sure it has helped her in her dating life...

[Ling]

My older daughter is, in fact: when she was very young, she could distinguish different colors of m&ms without looking.

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Interesting! I remember trying to convince my childhood friends that the purple-coloured Smarties tasted very different from the others, (with the other colours still tasting different, but not as much so.) My friends were convinced I was crazy and kept trying to "test" me by feeding me Smarties blindfolded, but I could always pick out the purple ones. It made for a good game at recess...