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If you perform regular health assessment activities, monitoring your senses should be added to your regular routine. Changes or declines in your senses can be indicators of a number of diseases and disorders. Your sense of taste in particular can change throughout your life. It may get less sensitive as you age, or get more sensitive as a reaction to certain health problems. That’s why monitoring your sense of taste is such a good way to evaluate your overall health risk. Not only will it help you identify changes that could indicate general ill health, it may also help you understand your risk of developing cancer.
A recent study examined the link between sensitivity to bitter tastes and the risk of developing cancer. The research began with the premise that people who were more sensitive to this bitter taste would eat fewer vegetables as a result. Bitter vegetables such as broccoli and Brussel sprouts have properties that prevent cancer. Because of this, the researchers believed that people with increased sensitivity to bitter would eat fewer vegetables and increase their cancer risk.
However, the study foundthat there wasn’t enough evidence to support this idea. The women in the study who were sensitive to bitter tastes did not report eating fewer bitter tasting vegetables than those who were less sensitive to this taste. There may be a problem with this data, as it was self-reported, but at this stage it’s too restrictive to blame an increased cancer risk purely on a lack of vegetables.
Although the reason for this link isn’t yet clear, there is a clear connection between cancer risk and bitter sensitivity. In this recent study, the female participants were given a chemical named phenylthiocarbamide (PTC) to taste.This is a chemical that can either taste very bitter, or be completely tasteless. As a result of their reaction to this chemical, they were divided into three groups: the ‘super-tasters’, ‘tasters’ and ‘non-tasters’. Obviously, the super-tasters were the most sensitive to bitter tastes, and the non-tasters hardly reacted at all.
The differences between these groups was striking. Super-tasters had a 58 percent higher risk of developing cancer than the non-taster group. And the tasters had a 40 percent higher risk of cancer than the non-taster group. These results show that there is clearly a very strong link between bitter sensitivity and increased cancer risk. And it also indicates the importance of monitoring this sensitivity for changes that may indicate this increased health risk.
This study shows the importance of monitoring your sense of taste as part of your health assessment activities. Even a rough assessment of your sense of taste will keep you informed of any changes. These changes can be predictive of overall health risk, or it can be an indicator of certain diseases.
Just as important is the link between your sense of taste and your diet. At this stage, it isn’t clear if your diet will naturally change if you become more sensitive to bitter tastes. However, it’s still important that you be aware of this possibility. Eating vegetables is one of the most effective ways to lower your overall health risk. It will also lower your risk of developing certain types of cancer. So no matter how your sense of taste changes with time, you need to ensure that your diet includes plenty of these healthy foods. This will help you to stay healthier over the long term.
If you’re concerned about a health risk factor, try using HomeLab to keep track of your condition and any preventative measures you take. And if you see signs of a significant problem, you should check with your doctor as soon as possible.
Tags: Health risk, Health assessment, Taste
