Sweet taste and obesity

Abstract

For more than 50 years, there has been evidence for greater consumption of sweet-foods in overweight humans and animals, relative to those that have a normal weight. Furthermore, it has long been suggested that energy deficit resulting from dieting, while moving the individual from a higher weight set point, would result in heightened susceptibility to palatable tastants, namely to sweet tastants. This was the motivation behind the first studies comparing sweet taste perception between individuals with obesity and those of a normal weight. These studies, using direct measures of taste, have been characterized by significant methodological heterogeneity, contributing towards variability in results and conclusions. Nevertheless, some of these findings have been used to support the theory that patients with obesity have decreased taste perception, particularly for sweet tastants. A similar hypothesis has been proposed regarding evidence for reduced brain dopamine receptors in obesity and, in both cases, it is proposed that increased food consumption, and associated weight gain, result from the need to increase sensory and brain stimulation. However, the available literature is not conclusive on the association between obesity and reduced sweet taste perception, with both negative and contradictory findings in comparisons between individuals with obesity and normal weight control subjects, as well as within-subject comparisons before and after bariatric surgery. Nevertheless, following either Roux-en-Y gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, there is evidence of changes in taste perception, particularly for reward-related measures of sweet tastants, that should be further tested and confirmed in large samples, using consensual methodology.

Nonlinear association between chemosensory dysfunction and body mass index

“…On the one hand, normal gustatory function is needed for normal intake of food and healthy nutrition, and gustatory dysfunction may lead to poor appetite and malnutrition (Fuchida et al, 2013). On the other hand, poor taste acuity may change eating behavior and lead to dietary overconsumption, which increases the risk for obesity (Ribeiro and Oliveira‐Maia, 2021). Additionally, among various overweight groups, only the obesity class II group exhibited reduced taste scores, suggesting the gustatory function was notably affected only when the overweight reached a certain degree.…”

“…Interestingly, underweight individuals were also associated with poor appetite and low taste sensitivity to bitter taste (Fuchida et al, 2013). However, previous evidence does not consistently support the notion that obese individuals have altered taste sensitivity, or associates tastespecific impairment with obesity (Ribeiro & Oliveira-Maia, 2021). This inconsistency may result from their limited sample sizes and heterogeneity of taste assessments.…”

Taste of Fat and Obesity: Different Hypotheses and Our Point of View

“…The former have lower sensitivity to sweet and fatty tastes but like sweet and fat more than the latter" [160]. Furthermore, it is difficult to reach an objective evaluation of the hedonic value of any flavour, especially in disease states [161][162][163]. Hedonic values are generally studied indirectly on the basis of eating habits, choices in experimental situations, the study of intracerebral opiates and dopamine, evoked potentials, electrical activity and brain imaging [161].…”

Psychological Effects of Sweet Taste and Sweet Taste Preference

“…Based on the observation that the consumption of ultra-processed food is greater in individuals with overweight and obesity [29,30], it is widely assumed that the liking of sweet foods may contribute to the development of obesity. However, research on the relationship between sweet taste preferences and obesity revealed mixed results and remains inconclusive [31]. For example, Sobeck et al investigated 150 children and found twice as many obese children in a group that preferred high sweet taste as compared to a group that preferred low sweet tastes [32].…”

“…In addition, it has been shown in mice that chronic low-grade inflammation, due to obesity, diminishes the number of taste buds in gustatory tissues [37]. However, systematic studies in humans addressing the association between sweet taste threshold and obesity (e.g., BMI) reveal inconclusive results [31]. While some studies found support for a negative relationship between BMI and sweet (and other) taste perceptions [38][39][40], other studies found no effects [41][42][43][44], or even reported rather enhanced than reduced sweet taste sensitivity [45,46].…”