Although the average human being has average senses like sight, hearing, and taste, there are exceptions to this. Some individuals carry the trait of having higher than normal human abilities relating to their senses.Taste is one of the five senses for determining the flavor of food and other substances. One of the two chemical senses, taste is stimulated through the contact of certain chemicals in substances with clusters of taste bud cells found primarily on the tongue. However, taste is a complex sensing mechanism that is also influenced by the smell and texture of substances. An individual's unique sense of taste is partially inherited, but factors such as culture and familiarity can help determine why one person's favorite food made be hot and spicy while another just can't get enough chocolate. However, a term known as a "supertaster", describes an entirely different idea.
A "supertaster" is a person who experiences certain tastes more powerfully than an average person. John Hayes, a professor, stated that, "Supertasters live in a neon taste world -- everything is bright and vibrant. For non-tasters, everything is pastel. Nothing is ever really intense." Supertasters do not need to add as much salt or sugar as a normal person would, because their taste buds intensify each substance that touches their tongues much more. Scientists believe that this may happen because of hereditary factors, or the fact that the individual's tongue may have a higher number of taste buds. "Supertasters" have entirely different experiences with food, and those factors continue to fascinate humans around the world due to their "superhuman" abilities.
I can't decide if it would be really cool or kind of suck to be a "supertaster". On one hand it would make good foods even better but then it was also make gross foods even more disgusting. Ever since I read about this in the book I visuals people like Rachael Rae or Chef Gordon Ramsey to be supertasters.
I would definitely want to be a supertaster. I am an extremely picky eater which makes it hard to find things to eat! I think this would definitely be a benefit to my life, but as to others I am unsure. I also think it would be weird if we all were supertasters, it would save amounts of salt and sugar in the world but I wonder what would happen!
What an interesting topic. I think it would be neat to be a supertaster. Not only is one's tongue a natural flavor enhancer it would make the experience I would have with food very different. I think I'd actually become a picky eater if I was a supertaster, because some foods like strawberries are already naturally sweet, so to add more flavor onto that would probably not taste the greatest.
Although being a supertaster would bring more "zest" into one's life, I don't think I would choose having super-taste abilities over other enhanced senses. I would definitely prefer super eyesight (or at least normal vision!) because I have very bad eyesight. However, I would agree with others that being a supertaster would most likely make a person a picky eater because they would be able to taste the intensity of flavors that normal people can't.
This topic makes me wonder...is being able to experience tastes more powerfully contribute to enjoying food more or less? On one hand, certain bland food might be more enjoyable, due to being able to sense more salt flavor on one's tongue or more sweetness. However, on the other hand, an individual could be pickier as a result, because they are more capable of tasting cooking errors or perceive bold tastes differently. I found this blog to be very insightful and amusing.
I like the name of the blog, it made me interesting in reading what you had to say. You did a good job of explaining this interesting type of "super power". I began to wonder while reading it if I would rather be a super-taster or a non-taster because it seems as if both have its ups and downs. I feel like I would still rather be a super-taster and enjoy some foods a lot and some foods not a lot, then having every single food seem dull and boring. If I had to choose one of my 5 senses to be "super" I'm not sure that I would want it to be taste though! Good post!