Tasters, Supertasters, Genes and Environment: How Dietary Choices Influence Our Health.

Food choices are the result of many different influences. Environment, education, income but also family habits, beliefs or occupation are some of the factors influencing what we eat. Naturally, taste is one of the main determinants, providing information about food and preventing the ingestion of potentially harmful substances. Taste preferences have a strong innate component that can be modified by pre and postnatal experiences related to evolutionary adaptation to specific environments. Individuals may be classified into three different phenotypic categories: nontasters, medium tasters and supertasters. Data on the influence of genetic is still controversial and a deeper understanding of taste sense and flavour perception is central to preventing chronic degenerative diseases such as obesity that are strongly impacted by how much we like some foods and dislike others regulating their acceptability and modulating their intake.