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Tasters, Supertasters, Genes and Environment: How Dietary Choices Influence Our Health

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Human Nutrition from the Gastroenterologist’s Perspective

Abstract

Food choices are the result of many different influences. Environment, education, income but also family habits, beliefs or occupation are some of the factors influencing what we eat. Naturally, taste is one of the main determinants, providing information about food and preventing the ingestion of potentially harmful substances. Taste preferences have a strong innate component that can be modified by pre and postnatal experiences related to evolutionary adaptation to specific environments. Individuals may be classified into three different phenotypic categories: nontasters, medium tasters and supertasters. Data on the influence of genetic is still controversial and a deeper understanding of taste sense and flavour perception is central to preventing chronic degenerative diseases such as obesity that are strongly impacted by how much we like some foods and dislike others regulating their acceptability and modulating their intake.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Public Health, Experimental and Forensic Medicine – Unit of Human Nutrition, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

    Hellas Cena & Clio Oggioni

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  1. Hellas Cena
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  2. Clio Oggioni
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Correspondence to Hellas Cena .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Villa Santa Maria, Research & Development, Milan, Italy

    Enzo Grossi

  2. ASST Bergamo Est, Gastroenterology, Seriate (BG), Italy

    Fabio Pace

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Cena, H., Oggioni, C. (2016). Tasters, Supertasters, Genes and Environment: How Dietary Choices Influence Our Health. In: Grossi, E., Pace, F. (eds) Human Nutrition from the Gastroenterologist’s Perspective. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30361-1_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30361-1_9

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