Posted on 11/30/2019 5:21:38 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
If you make a face like a kid swallowing cough syrup at the mere suggestion of Brussels sprouts, you might have the DNA of a “super taster,” a genotype that makes the bitter chemicals in these foods taste practically intolerable, according to recent research to be presented at the American Heart Association’s Scientific Sessions 2019 this weekend in Philadelphia.
Everyone inherits two copies of a taste gene called TAS2R38. The particular variants you’re born with determine how sensitive or not you are to bitter tastes from certain chemicals such as glucosinolates, commonly found in cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts, cabbage, and broccoli.
People who inherit two copies of a variant called AVI aren’t sensitive to bitter tastes. Those born with one copy of AVI and one copy of another variant called PAV perceive the bitter tastes of these chemicals, but aren’t necessarily overwhelmed by them. However, people with two copies of PAV, often called “super tasters,” find the same foods exceptionally bitter.
Along with those cruciferous veggie offenders, other foods like coffee, dark chocolate, and beer may also trigger that way-too-bitter taste.
“We’re talking a ruin-your-day level of bitter when they tasted the test compound,” said study author Jennifer L. Smith, Ph.D., R.N., a postdoctoral fellow in cardiovascular science at the University of Kentucky School of Medicine in Lexington, in a press release from her upcoming presentation.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, that day-wrecking bitter perception prevents these super tasters from consuming their daily recommended vegetables.
When the researchers analyzed food-frequency questionnaires from 175 people (average age 52 and more than 70 percent female), they found that the respondents with the PAV genotype were more than two and a half times as likely to rank in the bottom half of participants on the number of vegetables eaten than those without the variant.
(Excerpt) Read more at runnersworld.com ...
Broccoli is okay.
Brussels Sprouts, OTOH, are vegetables from hell.
I can’t honestly say that I enjoy eating any cooked green vegetables. There are a very few that I find tolerable and, surprisingly, broccoli is one of those.
It’s the godawful taste that’s to blame, not my DNA.
Some foods, you either love them or you hate them. Spinach. Sour Kraut. Calamari. Cranberries. Brussels sprouts. Jalapenos. Actually you can love and hate those at the same time.
Broccoli is bad, but Brussels sprouts are far worse.
Once when I was a child, my mother served Brussels sprouts. I thought they were tiny cabbages, and got a horrible surprise when I bit into one. It was so traumatic. I will NEVER eat Brussels sprouts.
Sounds good to me!
I've been making cabbage "steaks" as of late.
Two generally fit in the toaster oven tray.
I like all vegetables but am one who finds coffee and beer very bitter. Dark chocolate can be tolerable if I’m in the right mood.
Been eating the Brussels sprouts cut in half and pan fried in olive oil with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Quite good.
I make broccoli cheese soup at least once a month. Extra sharp cheddar, heavy cream and butter probably help. :)
Love broccoli, love boiled cabbage, and especially love brussel sprouts.
About the only vegetable I dislike is rutabaga. My mother cooked it every Thanksgiving and was the only one in the family to eat it.
Depending on how its made, broccoli and sprouts can taste good to me.
I could never stand alcohol / beer and coffee. They are all very bitter to me.
After recovery from gall bladder surgery, I actually liked some vegetables.
After recovery from gall bladder surgery, I actually liked some vegetables.
I can’t stand peppers or brussel sprouts.
Sounds delicious! Will have to try!
I’ve known I was an HT for 30 years or more, but fortunately can still take brocolli extract, which has tremendous health benefits. Still waiting for dark chocolate extract.
HT = Hyper Taster, as I learned it.
Not have eaten them cooked properly.
My mom hates Brussels Sprouts, a fact I was not aware of until she came over for dinner and I served Brussels Sprouts, roasted with bacon and a balsamic glaze drizzle.
She ate one to be polite and then finished off what was left on the platter.
Yeah, there are super tasters but mostly it is just that poor cooking is rampant.
You don’t comprehend too much about genetics and DNA? But I’m sure you got an “A” in your Two Dimensional Geometry (Flat Earth) class.
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