What is Sensitivity To Sweetness?

Sweetness is one of the basic tastes detected by the taste buds on the tongue. It is able to satisfy the desire for sugary delights in the human diet. The sensation of sweet taste is relayed to the brain from the taste buds. There are receptors on your tongue that are programmed by your genes to determine how you taste sweetness. Sugars are incorporated into foods for their biological, sensory, physical, and chemical properties. By chemical definition, the sugars normally consumed are glucose, fructose, galactose, sucrose, lactose, maltose, and trehalose.Sweet taste perception can be very different for everyone, which explains the different food preferences among individuals. Sensitivity to sweetness can be characterised by the variation in intensity of one’s perception of sweet taste despite the same level of sugar concentration. This condition is influenced by various factors, such as genetics, hormones, age, sex, weight, illnesses and etc.

How It Affects Your Body

The human body is not made to consume excessive amounts of sugar, especially fructose. Excess fructose will be converted directly into fat.

However, the perception of an individual to sweetness differs, thus causing a variation in dietary habits. Individuals with lower sensitivity towards sweetness tend to show a higher intake in carbohydrates, sweet food and sugary drinks as they will need to introduce more sugar to have the same taste sensation compared to those who are more sensitive to sweetness. However, high sugar levels in the blood can trigger inflammation and swelling.

The release of endorphins from sugar consumption stimulates a rewarding feeling in the brain, which may explain why some people will crave sugary foods. In the long run, a high-sugar diet can put the body at risk of developing diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

Implications of sugar overconsumption