You Are What You Eat: A Taste for Weird Food May Come From Your Genes
upstart writes:
Researchers said there are three main clusters of foods that share similar genetic components:
People's genes play a significant role in why they love certain types of food but dislike others, according to a new study.
[...] The researchers said they found 401 genetic variants that influence which foods the participants liked. Many of these variants affected more than one food-liking trait, but some only affected one particular food.
[...] The food map created in the study suggests there are three main clusters of foods that share a similar genetic component.
One group is made up of high-calorie foods such as meat, dairy and desserts. The second group consists of strong-tasting foods that are known as an acquired taste, such as alcohol and pungent vegetables. The third group contains low-calorie foods such as fruit and vegetables.
The researchers also said that these food groups shared genes that are associated with distinct health traits, such as obesity and cholesterol profiles.
Dr Nicola Pirastu from Human Technopole said that although taste receptors are important in determining which foods people like, it is "what happens in your brain which is driving what we observe".
"Another important observation is that the main division of preferences is not between savoury and sweet foods, as might have been expected, but between highly pleasurable and high-calorie foods and those for which taste needs to be learned," Pirastu said.
Journal Reference:
May-Wilson, S., Matoba, N., Wade, K.H. et al. Large-scale GWAS of food liking reveals genetic determinants and genetic correlations with distinct neurophysiological traits. Nat Commun 13, 2743 (2022). 10.1038/s41467-022-30187-w
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.