Taste Buds in Obese Individuals Lose Sensitivity

A new study conducted by a group of Australian researchers suggest that taste buds in obese people are less sensitive to tasting fat which in turn makes them to eat more and gain weight. Researchers at Deakin University had earlier stated that the taste buds can identify a “sixth taste” responding to the fat content in the food. The researchers now said that the taste buds of healthy people are more sensitive to the fat content compared to the taste buds in obese people.

The researchers added that sensitivity to fat allowed safety hormones to make us stop eating or increase the time between eating events. However this sensitivity to taste fat decreases among obese people which makes them overindulge in eating fat content.

Lead researcher Professor Russell Keast said that this finding could be used in combating obesity. He said that making obese people to indulge in low fat diet increases their sensitivity to fat and thereby make them eat less fat content.

“The good news out of the low-fat diet was that everybody responded equally, so it didn't matter if you were healthy weight or overweight obese, if you went onto the low-fat diet, you became more sensitive to fat”, he said.


Source-Medindia