The four tastes humans are most familiar with are sweet, sour, salty and bitter. In 1908 a Japanese chemistry professor discovered a fifth - savory. Now a behavioral geneticist has discovered that mice have receptors that detect calcium. Because mice and humans have many genes in common, it's likely calcium is a sixth taste. Supposedly calcium is what gives high-calcium vegetables - like kale and collard greens - their bitter flavor. The reason we don't detect calcium when we eat dairy products is it binds with fats and proteins. Further research, however, will confirm if human tongues actually have these "miceroscopic" receptors.
Of the five known tastes, most humans prefer sweet, salty and savory over sour and bitter; yet for some people this preference might not be a choice. Studies at the University of Florida revealed that serious childhood ear infections can damage the chorda tympani nerve. Damage to this taste-sensing nerve causes people to prefer sweet, salty and high-fat foods, which makes them prone to weight gain. Among the 2,290 people in the study, those with a history of serious childhood ear infections were 70% more likely to be obese - and 70% more likely to have people get of their chorda tympani nerves about it.
To find out why chili peppers taste hot, researchers at the University of Washington covered 1,000 square miles of Bolivia studying peppers. What they found was that the heat is a defense mechanism. Chili plants make capsaicin, a heat-producing substance, to fight a seed-eating fungus which attacks chili peppers through holes made by insects in the peppers' skin. Chili peppers in areas with more fungus make more capsaicin and thus are hotter. Birds can eat chili peppers and then spread the seeds because their physiology doesn't sense burning sensations. Unfortunately, when it comes to chili peppers, humans don't have the sense of a birdbrain.
Finally, when it comes to sweet tastes, humans usually think about desserts; but based on recent nutrition studies they should think about soft drinks too. Today 20%-22% of the calories in the average American diet - child or adult - come from beverages. That's 220 more calories a day than we consumed in 1960. Because an extra 10-12 calories a day adds up to an extra pound a year, we need to weigh the benefit of our beverages - like the 150 calories that are in vitamin water - before they weigh heavily on our hips.
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