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| Fat receptor found |
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A recent study has shown that some people may be more sensitive to fat in foods than others. The research has found a fat receptor in humans that is not influenced by taste. The study was done by the Washington University School of Medicine and has been published on line in the Journal of Lipid Research. The study was only on 21 people, but all had a Boy Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or more and were therefore considered obese. It was found that some of these had more of a particular variation of the CD36 gene and these were found to be more sensitive to the presence of fat in foods. Each person was asked to taste oily solutions in three cups, one had fat added to it and the other two didn't, and were asked to choose the one that was different. People who made more of the CD36 protein were found to be eight times more sensitive to the fat that those who made less. Based on the study, it is estimated that about 20 percent of the population may have the ability to produce less of the CD36 protein and this would mean that they are less likely to recognise fat in foods. This could be a factor contributing to our increasing obesity rate around the world. What is of particular interest with this study is that it has traditionally been believed that humans usually perceive fat through texture not taste, but this may change that belief. Washington University’s Professor Robert A. Atkins said,“What we will need to determine in the future is whether our ability to detect fat in foods influences our fat intake, which clearly would have an impact on obesity.” Obviously with such a small sample size, more work needs to be done on this issue but it potentially has some wide ranging implications. |
