Why Does Taste Vary?

The classic situation:

Person 1 "EW!! This is awful!!!! Here, taste it!"

Person 2 "ummmm...."

 

But in all actuality, the way foods, beverages, gum, etc taste is extremely variable! What tastes terrible to you may taste fine to your parents or friends. 

 

 

 What Factors Determine Taste?

Taste is a complex sense! Certain chemical compounds react with protein receptors on the surface of the tongue and mouth and the combination of the signals in your brain create the sense of taste. So why is it so different?

- Different people, different genetics, different receptors

Depending on the number and type of receptors you have in your mouth, you will taste different compounds and at different concentrations (here's a great example of PTC tasters - though it's not simply inherited)

- What you just ate

Have you ever walked into the sunlight and felt blind for a second? Or from outside into a darker room? It takes a moment for the receptors in your eyes to adjust to the extreme difference in signal strength - the protein receptors for taste can also be overwhelmed or overexcited by signals, thus changing the way something tastes depending on what was just tasted. Check out this great example: the miracle fruit. Other things you ingest, such as medications or tobacco products can also change your sense of taste dramatically.

- Age

It seems that the older your get, the more your receptors and perception of taste shift. The number of receptors you have does decline by the time you're 60, but there are significant taste perception shifts in the 20s & 30s too that remain unexplained. It does mean, about every 5-10 years, you should try those foods you 'hate' because they may taste completely different!

- Environment

If you are exposed to a lot of flavors, in high concentrations, your receptors react less to them. This explains why people who eat spice food can build up a tolerance to spice while people who eat mild food continue to taste spice at low concentrations. The same is true for salt, sugar, and many other flavors.

- Disorders & Diseases

The National Institute of Health has a great resource describing known taste disorders and diseases. Even having the common cold or flu can change how things taste by affecting both smell receptors and taste receptors. If you've ever burned your mouth on hot soup, pizza, coffee, etc, then you know that changes your sense of taste temporarily too!