A Systematic Review of Taste Differences Among People With Eating Disorders

Abstract

Background:Eating disorders are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality. The etiology and maintenance of eating-disorder symptoms are not well understood. Evidence suggests that there may be gustatory alterations in patients with eating disorders.Objective:This article systematically reviews research assessing gustatory differences in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN), bulimia nervosa (BN), and binge eating disorder (BED).Method:A systematic review was performed, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, examining taste and eating disorders. We reviewed electronic databases and identified 1,490 peer-reviewed English-language studies. Of these, 49 met inclusion criteria.Results:Studies employed psychophysical measures (n = 27), self-reported questionnaires (n = 5), and neuroimaging techniques (i.e., electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging; n = 17). Psychophysical studies showed that individuals with BN, in general, had greater preference for sweetness than healthy controls, and those with AN had a greater aversion for fat than controls. In neuroimaging studies, findings suggested that predictable administration of sweet-taste stimuli was associated with reduced activation in taste-reward regions of the brain among individuals with AN (e.g., insula, ventral, and dorsal striatum) but increased activation in BN and BED.Discussion:To our knowledge, this systematic review is the first to synthesize literature on taste differences in AN, BN, and BED. The inconsistency and variability in methods used across studies increased difficulties in comparing studies and disease processes. Further studies with well-defined population parameters are warranted to better understand how taste varies in patients with eating disorders.

Assessing the Relationship Between Drive for Thinness and Taste–Shape Correspondences

“…The above sensitivity hypothesis does not apply to bitter-round matching. It has also been reported that patients with eating disorders showed lower sensitivity to bitter tastes compared to healthy individuals (for reviews, see Chao et al, 2019 andKinnaird et al, 2018). However, among our participants with greater tendencies toward eating disorders, the association between bitter taste and angular shape was stronger.…”

“…They are unable to estimate their body size accurately, with a tendency toward overestimation (Gardner and Bokenkamp, 1996;Hamamoto et al, 2019;Mohr et al, 2010;Smeets et al, 1999). Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that taste perception in patients with eating disorders differs from that of healthy individuals (Chao et al, 2019;Dazzi et al, 2013;Kinnaird et al, 2018;Oberndorfer et al, 2013;Wagner et al, 2015). Several studies have focused on the perception of sweet taste because patients with eating disorders often avoid sweet foods.…”

“…Generally, sour taste is associated with angular shape (Ngo et al, 2013;Velasco et al, 2015) although the participants with greater eating disorder tendencies showed the opposite association in the present study. It was reported that patients with eating disorders showed lower sensitivity to sour tastes compared to healthy individuals (Chao et al, 2019;Kinnaird et al, 2018;for reviews). This lower sensitivity to sour taste may be due to an aberrant mental representation regarding the sour-round correspondences.…”

Oral cavity and eating disorders: An insight to holistic health

“…[ 59 ] The specific course of therapy for EDs still needs to be accomplished, owing to the plethora of etiologic factors. [ 60 ] However, the associated complications like electrolyte imbalance with dehydration, hypotension, bradycardia, arrhythmias, and suicide tendencies may warrant urgent hospitalization. [ 61 ]…”

The central nucleus of the amygdala and gustatory cortex assess affective valence during CTA learning and expression in male and female rats

“…Our data support the hypothesis that female rats find the sweet taste more reinforcing and are therefore less sensitive to CTA at lower doses of LiCl. Cell-type analysis would benefit our understanding of how females differentially process sweet taste, a critical area of study in the field of eating disorders [108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116] . This result is particularly interesting considering their relative lack of USV expression in response to the rewarding stimulus.…”