Obesity may Affect Cells Reaction to Sweet, Bitter Stimuli

A recent study shows how obesity can potentially change what we taste by changing the way our tongues react to certain flavors.

According to researchers at the University at Buffalo, they found that being severely overweight impaired the ability for mice to detect sweets.

Bigger mice were unable to pick up on sweet tastes as easily due to fewer taste cells, yet slimmer counterparts could sense reactionary stimuli more easily.

Researchers believe that this could potentially explain many people's relationship with food who may have weight issues.

 "Studies have shown that obesity can lead to alterations in the brain, as well as the nerves that control the peripheral taste system, but no one had ever looked at the cells on the tongue that make contact with food," said lead scientist Kathryn Medler, PhD, UB associate professor of biological sciences, via a press release. "What we see is that even at this level - at the first step in the taste pathway - the taste receptor cells themselves are affected by obesity. The obese mice have fewer taste cells that respond to sweet stimuli, and they don't respond as well."

Yet why would it be a problem for larger mice to be unable to detect sweet stimuli? Researchers point out that this may cause them to miss much of the sensation coming from certain food and cause them, in turn, to over indulge.

Researchers looked at 25 normal mice compared to 25 littermates who were obese.

They measured the animals' response to different tastes and had them look at a process known as calcium signaling that helps cells "recognize" certain tastes that temporarily increase calcium levels.

Findings showed that tastes cells from obese mice responded more weakly to sweet and bitter tastes. However, both groups showed a similar responses to tastes from savory and meaty foods.

More information regarding the study can be found via the journal PLOS ONE.