So Fat, You Can Taste It

by Naomi Shulman, Posted Mar 9th 2010 @ 3:00PM

Australian scientists claim they've stumbled upon a sixth sense -- but not the kind where you see dead people. No, researchers down under have found a new flavor sense: fat.

Everyone knows that fat is an excellent vehicle for food flavors and has a highly appealing mouthfeel. A new study, however, suggests that along with sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami (essentially, the ability to detect protein), we can also actually taste fat itself.

Dr. Russell Keast, an exercise and nutrition sciences professor at Deakin University in Melbourne, told Slashfood, "This makes logical sense. We have sweet to identify carbohydrate/sugars, and umami to identify protein/amino acids, so we could expect a taste to identify the other macronutrient: fat." In the Deakin study, which appears in the latest issue of the British Journal of Nutrition, Dr. Keast and his team gave a group of 33 people fatty acids found in common foods, mixed in with nonfat milk to disguise the telltale fat texture. All 33 could detect the fatty acids to at least a small degree.

Here's where it gets exciting: While all participants could detect some fat, some were better at it than others. With this in mind, the researchers then explored whether sharper fat-tasting abilities corresponded to fat consumption. They did: The higher a person's fat-tasting sensitivity, the fewer fatty foods that person ate, and the lower that person's body mass index was.

''I may be very sensitive to sweet tastes, while somebody else may be insensitive. This is common throughout the tastes, and it's exactly what we're finding with fat," Dr. Keast told the Sydney Morning Herald. "People who are very sensitive to fat can taste very low concentrations of it. It appears [those] people have a mechanism that is telling them to stop eating it."

This leads to the obvious million-dollar question: Why are some people more sensitive to the taste of fat than others? Findings could lead to an entirely new approach to obesity. Dr. Keast's team is on the case. Meanwhile, pass the butter.

Filed Under: Health & Medical, News
Tags: fat, fat taste, food flavors, food flavors fat, new flavor sense

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

3-09-2010 @6:07PM amy3e said... sure wish I had the fat tasting sense! With easter on the way there will be so much good food at our house. Just finished making cake ball and decorated for easter.. will freeze and pull out that day they are so delicious and easy to make.. bite sized cakes dipped in chocolate.. recipe and how to tips here
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3-10-2010 @3:58AM RosyHaize said... Free Diabetes Meal Plan http://ow.ly/1dUWo

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3-10-2010 @10:54AM j said... Amen. I can definitely taste fat. You can tell automatically when something needs fat because it's just not there.
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3-11-2010 @1:58PM jake3_14 said... I must have really poor fat-tasting receptors. I need a diet of 65% fat to keep me slender.
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3-11-2010 @5:52AM Jim Cassa said... There may be something to this. New research shows us updated information all the time.

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3-11-2010 @3:22PM foxdude0486 said... What happens when you like the taste of fat? Fatty cuts of meat? More please! Don't want the fat off yours? Pass it here! For some reason I enjoy the taste and texture of fatty foods, but definitely know when my body says no more to it..
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3-17-2010 @9:20AM newsy1 said... God, it's bad enough when I see fat, I don't think I would be inclined to taste it as well. http://newsy1.wordpress.com
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