28 votes

TIL I am sensitive to bitter foods

Posted by DanielB
Tags: casual, food, taste, food sensitivity

Nothing spectacular- I don’t particularly wince at bitter foods but after posting this thread:

https://tildes.net/~food/18ae/is_it_me_or_does_spicy_sweet_bitter

I was today’s years old when I learned most people don’t taste bitterness like I do; it’s not an overwhelming taste and on some foods a light bitterness is actually pleasant, but I didn’t know that others don’t taste the bitterness of things e.g. unsweetened sparkling water.

Well I’ll be a donkey’s uncle.

20 comments

  1. [3]
    MaoZedongers
    Link
    sparkling water is definitely bitter, I'd almost describe it as a salty taste.

    sparkling water is definitely bitter, I'd almost describe it as a salty taste.

    14 votes
    1. cfabbro
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Funnily enough, apparently carbonated water alone actually activates our sour taste receptors, even though it isn't necessarily perceived as tasting sour due to other factors:...

      Funnily enough, apparently carbonated water alone actually activates our sour taste receptors, even though it isn't necessarily perceived as tasting sour due to other factors:

      The team tested mice engineered to lack different types of taste cells and discovered that sour-sensing cells were responsible for detecting carbon dioxide. Further work revealed that the response is initiated by an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase 4 (CA-IV). CA-IV is one of a family of enzymes that helps convert carbon dioxide to carbonic acid, providing cells and tissues with a buffer to help prevent excessive changes in pH. CA-IV interacts with carbon dioxide on the surface of sour-sensing cells in taste buds, the researchers found, prompting sour cells to send a message to the brain.

      “Of course, this raises the question of why carbonation doesn't just taste sour,” Ryba says. He says the answer likely lies in the somatosensory system, which transmits information about touch, pain and temperature to the brain. “We know that carbon dioxide also stimulates the mouth's somatosensory system. Therefore, what we perceive as carbonation must reflect the combination of this somatosensory information with that from taste.”

      https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/scientists-discover-receptor-carbonation-taste

      Link to the study:
      https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3654389/

      And the bitterness also likely depends on other additives and dissolved minerals in the sparkling water (like quinine in tonic water), which are often bitter tasting themselves.

      7 votes
    2. DanielB
      Link Parent
      You too! We’re friends now.

      You too! We’re friends now.

      2 votes
  2. lou
    (edited )
    Link
    I'm kinda the same. People keep deriding me for not being a "real" adult because I should drink coffee and eat dark chocolate, trying to educate me into becoming a higher being. Why must...

    I'm kinda the same. People keep deriding me for not being a "real" adult because I should drink coffee and eat dark chocolate, trying to educate me into becoming a higher being.

    Why must everything have a meaning?

    Well, fuck that :P

    11 votes
  3. chroma
    Link
    Haha, I love when stuff like this happens. Also FWIW I don't think sparkling water is bitter either. I've got something related: I don't like arugula and never have, but I also found out maybe 8...

    Haha, I love when stuff like this happens. Also FWIW I don't think sparkling water is bitter either.

    I've got something related: I don't like arugula and never have, but I also found out maybe 8 years ago that I don't taste arugula how other people do. I ask people all the time how it tastes to them. How does arugula taste to you?

    This is what it tastes like to me.

    It tastes like farts. Or rotten eggs. I think I have the "cilantro" gene, but for arugula.

    8 votes
  4. [2]
    DrEvergreen
    Link
    So how do you experience the taste of things like cucumber, celery, cilantro/coriander leaves (the seeds lack the compound some people are sensitive to)? All of these are flavours that most people...

    So how do you experience the taste of things like cucumber, celery, cilantro/coriander leaves (the seeds lack the compound some people are sensitive to)?

    All of these are flavours that most people don't mind. Then there are those with the genes that make them sensitive to certain compounds that taste bad to them. Maybe you're one of them?

    7 votes
    1. DanielB
      Link Parent
      I never thought that cilantro tasted like soap, I find it pretty nice. Most cucumbers are good but I do remember some instances where I did get an occasional bitter cucumber. Same with celery. I...

      I never thought that cilantro tasted like soap, I find it pretty nice.

      Most cucumbers are good but I do remember some instances where I did get an occasional bitter cucumber. Same with celery.

      I thought I was average in almost every metric - I am special! 😊

      8 votes
  5. Heichou
    Link
    Bitter kiiiillls me. I can't stand anything that tastes bitter. I tried tonic water once and nearly threw up lol. I also think cilantro tastes like soap but I like the soap so I still eat it

    Bitter kiiiillls me. I can't stand anything that tastes bitter. I tried tonic water once and nearly threw up lol. I also think cilantro tastes like soap but I like the soap so I still eat it

    7 votes
  6. [4]
    chocobean
    Link
    Haha reminds me when I found out as an adult that not everyone eats eggplants and find their tongue and lips a little itchy. Turns out it's just my entire family being allergic 😔

    Haha reminds me when I found out as an adult that not everyone eats eggplants and find their tongue and lips a little itchy. Turns out it's just my entire family being allergic 😔

    5 votes
    1. [2]
      DanielB
      Link Parent
      Hahaha that’s silly, but can’t blame you if your entire family is allergic! I wonder if your mom and dad knew that before marrying …

      Hahaha that’s silly, but can’t blame you if your entire family is allergic!

      I wonder if your mom and dad knew that before marrying …

      1. chocobean
        Link Parent
        maybe it's super common for our area :| ? they married really young so it's possible their families also had this mild allergy.

        maybe it's super common for our area :| ? they married really young so it's possible their families also had this mild allergy.

    2. UP8
      Link Parent
      I never had trouble with eggplants but I always hated them particularly when I was vegetarian and everybody wanted to feed them to me instead of meat. It’s one reason why I moe for Neptune.

      I never had trouble with eggplants but I always hated them particularly when I was vegetarian and everybody wanted to feed them to me instead of meat. It’s one reason why I moe for Neptune.

  7. [3]
    Tigress
    Link
    Sparkling water tastes bitter and disgusting to me too. And the only way I like coffee is a lot of sugar and cream (think coffee ice cream or those frappecinos). And that took decades to get me to...

    Sparkling water tastes bitter and disgusting to me too. And the only way I like coffee is a lot of sugar and cream (think coffee ice cream or those frappecinos). And that took decades to get me to like that (I do soda for my caffiene).

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      DanielB
      Link Parent
      It’s not overwhelming per se, but I can’t drink it down like … water like some people do!

      It’s not overwhelming per se, but I can’t drink it down like … water like some people do!

      1. Tigress
        Link Parent
        I can’t drink it. Or rather I can but I hate it and I would have to force it down. I think I learned at some point some people don’t taste that carbonation. Lucky. Instead I gotta drink sodas with...

        I can’t drink it. Or rather I can but I hate it and I would have to force it down. I think I learned at some point some people don’t taste that carbonation. Lucky. Instead I gotta drink sodas with lots of sugar or fake sugar to like carbonated beverages.

        1 vote
  8. [2]
    UP8
    (edited )
    Link
    You are probably a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster Which is one of those few traits in humans that exhibits Mendelian inheritance. Funny they don’t use the PTC strips that they had us...

    You are probably a

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertaster

    Which is one of those few traits in humans that exhibits Mendelian inheritance. Funny they don’t use the PTC strips that they had us use in high school biology class because PTC causes cancer. It is probably more complex than that though because there are a huge number of bitter receptors meant to protect us from ingesting dangerous things, (Note many psychoactive drugs are bitter.)

    3 votes
    1. DanielB
      Link Parent
      Which I never knew was a thing, thanks for sharing!

      Which I never knew was a thing, thanks for sharing!

      1 vote
  9. [3]
    CaptainCody
    Link
    Til I'm also sensitive to bitterness.

    Til I'm also sensitive to bitterness.

    1 vote