Taste Sensitivity Helps Determine Our Life Span: Study

Taste perceptibility helps determine our life span, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of Michigan Health System, Wayne State University and Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Switzerland found that sensitivity of taste buds can directly affect health and the number of years we live. For the study, experts observed fruit flies whose ability to taste food was suppressed to note its impact on longevity and aging.

It was observed that bitter tasting food had negative influences on health while sweet tastes had positive effects. The study recorded significant impacts on flies' that were able to distinguish taste of water. The flies that were able detect the taste in water lived 43 percent longer than other flies.

The findings revealed that flies undergo physiological adaptation involving storing sufficient levels of fat and nutrients in their body upon losing their tasting ability. If the flies sensed a shortage of nutrients and water, they stored extra fat and water within to supplement the deficiency.

"This brings us further understanding about how sensory perception affects health. It turns out that taste buds are doing more than we think," said Scott Pletcher, study author and associate professor in the Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology and research associate professor at the Institute of Gerontology in a news release.

"We know they're able to help us avoid or be attracted to certain foods but in fruit flies, it appears that taste may also have a very profound effect on the physiological state and healthy aging."

Past research suggests sensory perceptions are related to certain traits like athletic performance, aging and development of type-2 diabetes. Individuals who crave salty snacks and sweet treats tend to overindulge in these foods thereby increasing their susceptibility to life-threatening diseases and health problems.

The results of the current trial prove the concept that living organisms are attuned by their sensory abilities to survive in different environmental situations and undergo bodily changes that affect overall health and life span.

 "We need further studies to help us apply this knowledge to health in humans potentially through tailored diets favoring certain tastes or even pharmaceutical compounds that target taste inputs without diet alterations," said Michael Waterson, co-author and researcher from University of Michigan.

More information is available online in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences.