The more sugary foods we eat, the less we taste sweetness, new research from Penn State College of Medicine suggests.
Researchers at Penn State studied lean rats and obese rats that have taste responses similar to obese humans. They recorded the firing of nerve cells when the rats’ tongues were exposed to six concentrations of sugar.
The obese rats, which chronically overeat, reacted only about half as much as the lean rats to lower concentrations of sugar. But the obese rats also had a stronger reaction to higher concentrations.
Researchers believe this demonstrates that increased consumption of sweet foods decreases the brain’s response to sweetness over time.
In humans, this may mean that eating sugary foods lowers our ability to taste sweetness, leading us to seek out sweeter foods and putting us at risk for obesity.
Read the full story on the Penn State website.