Can obesity alter the way we taste?

IN A study of mice, biologists at the University at Buffalo said that being overweight impaired the animals’ ability to detect sweets. Compared with slimmer counterparts, plump mice had fewer taste cells that responded to sweet stimuli. Furthermore, the cells that responded to sweetness and bitterness reacted weakly. These findings may help shed light on how obesity changes our relationship with food since taste plays an important role in regulating choice of food and its consumption.

Learning more about the connection between taste, appetite and obesity is important, said lead scientist Kathryn Medler, PhD, UB associate professor of biological sciences, because it could lead to new methods for encouraging healthy eating. The findings were published in the journal PLOS ONE.