A supertaster is a person who has an unusually strong sense of taste due to extra taste buds. These tastebuds make them more sensitive to most flavors, with bitter being the most affected. It is often a cause of picky eating, but picky eaters are not necessarily supertasters, and vice versa.

The term originates with psychologist Dr. Alexandra Woods Logue. Supertasting is physiological rather than psychological, as supertasters have much higher concentrations of taste buds on their tongue than normal tasters. Between 20% and 25% of all people are supertasters. A further 20% to 25% are nontasters, the opposite of supertasters, who have an uncommonly weak sense of taste. There appears to be a genetic component to taste sensitivity.

Diagnosis and treatment

---

In the 1930s it was discovered that a majority of people did not respond to chemicals characterised by others as bitter. This was discovered in propylthiouracil and phenylthiocarbamide, two compounds discovered by Fox. While other colleagues complained about the substances' bitterness, Fox himself did not notice this, and proceeded to do a small trial to compare, yielding the discovery that many were "tasteblind". Only in the 1990s did the opposite extreme, an exceptionally sensitive sense of taste, get its scientific label of "supertaster"

Since then, researchers determine whether someone is a supertaster, nontaster, or normal by gauging their reaction to propylthiouracil, also known as PROP, a bitter substance used medicinally in the treatment of hyperthyroidism. A nontaster will not taste the bitterness of the propylthiouracil, while a supertaster will find it disgusting. Because PROP has some rare but serious side effects, it is a prescription medicine. It is also possible to make a reasonably accurate self-diagnosis at home by careful examination of the tongue and looking for the number of fungiform papillae (see external links section). Blue food dye can make this easier. There is no treatment or cure for the condition of being a supertaster or nontaster.

Risks and benefits

---

Although not directly harmful, being a supertaster is not without some risk. A tendency to dislike certain generally beneficial foods such as green vegetables and grapefruit can make supertasters face additional risk for the conditions these foods prevent. On the positive side, however, supertasters generally do not enjoy alcohol or coffee, and thus are at considerably less risk of conditions like alcoholism and caffeine addiction.

Supertasters in culture

---

• Alternative rock group They Might Be Giants wrote and performed a song about a supertaster entitled "John Lee Supertaster". It appears on their 2002 children's album entitled No!.

See also

---

• Tetrachromat

References

---

1. Alexandra Woods Logue. The Psychology of Eating and Drinking. 1986. ISBN 0415950090 (3rd ed)
2. Tepper BJ. 6-n-propylthiouracil: a genetic marker for taste, with implications for food preference and dietary habits. Am J Hum Genet 1998;63:1271-6. PMID 9792854.
3. Fox AF. Six in ten "tasteblind" to bitter chemical. Sci News Lett 1931;9:249.
4. See note 2
5. Bartoshuk LM. The biological basis of food perception and food acceptance. Food Qual Pref 1993;4:21–32.

External links

---

• BBC Supertaster Test
• Fungiform papillae examination directions
• (thiourea testing)

Gustation | Perception