With regards to green veggies, there was initially only one that I could eat, and that was canned Del Monte Cut Green Beans, but *not* the French, Seasoned, Whole, or Italian. And fresh green beans from the produce section make me gag. But, to this day I still eat the canned ones all the time, although now I’ve added asparagus and broccoli to the green vegetable rotation, as well as some zuccini/squash.

And good luck with your little one! My oldest daughter is also a supertaster, and we just had a little one and we’re waiting to see how her tastes develop, since my wife is a normal taster.

Thanks for posting!

Scott

I haven’t seen any data correlating supertasting with smarts, but I also don’t see any reason why they *wouldn’t* be related! And I’m 100% with you on your gag list, there’s nothing there that I eat.

From your secondary list, I do like asparagus, garlic, and yogurt, but those have become more appealing as I’ve gotten older and used to be on my “absolutely not” list when I was younger (I’m 49 now).

And there are very few alcoholic beverages that I enjoy the taste of. I also like margaritas and other sweet mixed drinks, like mojitos. I’ve also developed a taste for single-malt scotch as I’ve gotten older. But most beer and alcoholic drinks do nothing for me (taste-wise).

And I’m somewhat lucky in that I don’t have a huge affinity for rich sweets. I like them, but don’t really crave them, although I have a tendency to always have sweetened drinks with my meals, so maybe that fulfills the typical sweet-tooth that most supertasters seem to have.

And meat+potatoes+rice+bread describes the majority of my meals.

Glad you found out about supertasters, there’s a lot of good info out there about it. I particularly like this finding, quoted from Wikipedia:

“This increased taste response is not the result of response bias or a scaling artifact, but appears to have an anatomical/biological basis.”

Meaning, we’re *not* being “picky”!!

Scott

Yeah, I’ve always wanted to have the non-tasters spend some time as a supertaster so that they could understand what it’s like. And, yeah, I’ve also wondered what it would be like to be a non-taster – is all food just bland, or do they get to experience the full variety of tastes and textures and it’s just that none of them are repugnant?

Scott

Thanks for this article. I had no idea until tonight that there was such thing as a supertaster. I must have it big time. I googled “coffee gag”. I think mine is getting worse. If I even slightly smell coffee I gag. Peppermint helps a lot. I even have to suck on a pepperment these days to smoke a cigar! I am a big eater, and enjoy a very wide variety of foods. I am not picky at all. I will try anything.
These things are repulsive:
Coffee
Tobacco
garbonzo beans, hominy, most beans
egg plant
rye
citrus rind
diet soda
mustard
dill pickles
brusell sprouts, cabbage etc
tunips
corned beaf
okra, green tomatoes, kale
I feel like gagging just from reading the list

These things I am not inthusiastic over:
many fruits and mellons
bell peppers
heavy garlic
asparagas
alcohol other than margaritas.
yogurt
rubarb, mincemeat (whatever that is)

I like:
all chocolates but am addicted to dark chocolate.
Most sweet rich desserts ( I fell in love with my wife, because she makes great pies)
anything sweat and salty
meat potatoes rice bread

I hope this helps.. Also I am an engineer, so maybe supertasters are also supersmart….any data on that?

Richard

I also wonder what it would be like to be a non-taster, and I would love for a non-taster to spend a day in my shoes so that they understand how certain foods taste to me…

Thanks for a great article. You summed up so many feelings I had, too! I found out about supertasters about 10 years ago and I couldn’t believe someone actually was describing my experience. Finally. I wasn’t just picky. There’s something really going on with my taste buds!

I’m nearly 40 now and still have a very limited range of things I eat. I’m trying to do better now that I have a little one, because if she’s not a supertaster I don’t want to limit her, but it’s challenging because I don’t cook green veggies… I don’t know how to! I’ve never been able to eat them! So I’m trying to learn how to prepare veggies well and try new things myself to at least eat the broadest range of healthy food I can. Thankfully my husband eats just about everything.

My list of things I absolutely cannot eat/drink: coffee (smells like bliss but tastes AWFUL), beer, onions/peppers (one piece in a pot of sauce and… ewww… I shudder just thinking about it), pretty much every green veggie. Stuff that’s too sweet. I can eat, say, an ice cream sundae, but only so much topping and the goop at the bottom? Ugh. My husband eats it. Frosting gets scraped off of cake ’til only a tiny layer remains. Two bites of cheesecake and I’m done.

The thought of onions makes me want to throw up. I wish I could somehow share the experience of how bad it is with people, so they would understand I’m not “just picky” or “I could just pick out the pieces.” Like you and mustard. I share your mustard dilemma… with onions… they are EVERYWHERE. I eat fettucine alfredo at Italian restaurants, because, guess what, onions are in everything else.

I often wonder what it must be like to be a non-taster, where the entire menu of a restaurant is full of things you like to eat. It must be really nice. But it also is good to know there’s a physical reason behind why I eat the way I do. Oh, and in regards to your comment on salt, I have always used a lot, too. I hadn’t read that article – good to know!

Thanks for a great post.

Thanks for sharing, it’s been gratifying to see the response to this posting from so many other folks dealing with similar issues.

I read an article last week that talked about a recent study that explored the use of salt by supertasters, and to the surprise of the researchers we actually used more salt, when their expectations were that our sensitivity to tastes would cause us to tone it down. However, what they found is that the salt taste helps mask any bitter taste that is present, and it’s the bitterness that most supertasters are most sensitive to. The article is here:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/16/salt.taste/index.html?hpt=T2

I’ve always used salt generously, and this helps explain it, at least partially.

Thanks again for sharing!

I discovered today that I’m a supereater and your article is quite familiar! I’m fascinated and yet relieved to learn about this. I, too, was extremely picky as a child. My tastes were different than yours, though, as can be expected. My dislikes were of many veggies, but not all (I liked tomatoes and pickles for example). I remember an extreme dislike for lima beans, peas, most leafy greens (except iceburg), and also baked fish, as well as many other things which I can’t remember right now. My mother sure can tell you, though. To this day she talks about how picky I was and that she had to strain all the veggies out of her chicken vegetable soup. I remember sitting for hours at the dinner table after dinner because I simply REFUSE to eat a certain vegetable. I recall winning most of the time–2 hours and ONE bite later. There was also the napkin trick and the fill my mouth, slip to the bathroom and flush the contents. There were a few times I had to swallow things whole with my milk (although I wasn’t a huge fan of milk, either).

Wow, this is funny and brings back memories. Now, I refuse to make any child eat something they don’t like as I understand if you don’t like it, you don’t like it!

Amazingly, now, in my mid-30s, there are actually few things I don’t like or won’t eat. I will eat/try just about anything and actually love a lot of the foods I hated as a child. Not that I drank beer as a child (I hated even the smell of it after all) but I remember the day in college that I was reluctantly sipping a glass and then suddenly it was like a switch–I simply LIKED it (but not the bitter kind, of course)! In fact, around that time, I, like you, seemed to broaden my food horizons considerable, too.

But there are a few things I still can’t stand like coffee (I have to load it up with LOTS of cream and sugar), ale beers or any bitter beer or alcohol, actually most bitter foods/drinks I can’t do–quinine anyone? Yuck!!! I also still have a violent aversion to celery and peppers (ALL kinds of peppers). I don’t know what those 2 are about, but I can’t even smell them without gagging. I don’t know if they are a part of my supertastiness or just something I have an aversion to. My husband says (about peppers) “You don’t know what you are missing!”. I tell him it’s not a choice. I simply can’t go near them.

Anyway, thanks for your article! I feel vindicated at least somewhat. I really wish this info had been around when I was little so I didn’t have to go though hellish mealtimes–I actually dreaded dinner! I am now more informed so that if a child of mine inherits my supertaster genes, I’ll know how to handle it!

Cori

I think the three classifications (supertaster, normal taster, non-taster) are meant to describe the broad categories, and there is still a lot of granularity along the spectrum.

Also, there are many people in all categories that have very strong and specific likes and dislikes that don’t have anything to do with the density of fungiform papillae on the tongue. In fact, not even all supertasters have similar likes, dislikes, or reactions.

My point in writing the article was to relate my personal epiphany when learning something new that I knew described me, as it was quite enlightening and a relief to know that there were many other people with the same condition, and that it had a logical and rational explanation other than just being “picky”.

More information can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supertasters

Thanks for posting.