Jan 30, 2022 12:00:00

Shows that an unbalanced diet can change 'taste preferences'

A person's taste affects the taste of what he eats, but the taste is not always constant, and his taste may change depending on his age and physical condition at that time. A new study shows that 'bias of nutrients in the last meal you eat' can change your taste buds.

Dietary Macronutrient Imbalances Lead to Compensatory Changes in Peripheral Taste via Independent Signaling Pathways | Journal of Neuroscience

https://www.jneurosci.org/content/41/50/10222

How diet influences taste sensitivity and preference | News
https://news.ucr.edu/articles/2021/12/15/how-diet-influences-taste-sensitivity-and-preference

In order for animals to maintain a healthy body, it is important to get the optimal amount and balance of nutrients such as carbohydrates and proteins, and imbalanced intake of nutrients can be harmful to health. Flies that need sugar and amino acids to survive are said to be eating using the taste system to detect these nutrients.

Therefore, a research team at the University of California, Riverside conducted an experiment on fruit flies to investigate 'whether the last meal affects taste.' The research team prepared three patterns of 'nutrient-balanced diet,' 'sugar-rich, protein-rich diet,' and 'sugar-rich, protein-poor diet,' and the total calorie content of these diets was almost uniform. After confirming, the food was given to the flies and the dietary preference was tested for a week.

Then, it turned out that the taste of flies changes depending on the type of food eaten. Anupama Dahanukar , an associate professor of molecular, cell and systems biology at the University of California, said, 'We found that food changes the taste preferences of flies. Eat low-sugar and high-protein foods. The taste sensitivity of flies has changed to eat a balanced diet, and in the short term they have taken the compensatory action of eating more sugar and less protein. '

According to the research team, food

affects the signaling of dopamine and insulin in the fly's brain, altering the sensory response of neurons involved in the detection of external stimuli. Anindya Ganguly , the lead author of the paper, states that 'changes appear in flies based on a diet of just one or two days.'

In addition, it seems that changes in taste in flies are controlled by gene expression, and from the results of analysis of gene expression levels by RNA sequencing , when eating a diet low in sugar, the expression of the gene 'Dop2R' favors sugar. It has been found to be enhanced and at the same time reduce behavioral sensitivity to amino acids. On the other hand, it was shown that when eating a sugar-rich diet, the expression of a gene called 'Dilp 5 ' reduces the preference for sugar.

Interestingly, after the taste of flies fed an unbalanced diet changed, the nutritional balance of the diet was restored to normal, and the taste sensitivity was restored. From this, the research team states that taste preferences have plasticity.

From the results of this study, the research team argues that when the nutritional balance of the diet is disturbed, the taste changes toward favoring the deficient nutrients, and at least in the short term, the nutritional balance is restored to normal. On the other hand, 'Flies raised on a sugar-rich diet have a reduced preference for sugar in the short term, but if they continue to feed on an imbalanced diet, they will consume more sugar in the long term.' According to the research results, the relationship between taste and nutrients may be more complicated.