Love High-Fat Foods? Hate Bitter Foods? Your Genes May Be the Reason Why
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Do you love high-fat foods or have a “sweet tooth”? Maybe you wonder how some people can tolerate—and even enjoy—foods you find bitter like broccoli or kale? How much you enjoy certain flavors is coded right in your genes. The science of nutrigenomics shows that our genes influence the physiology of our palate, and that can affect our health and our weight.
Taste is an important factor when it comes to food choice. When we find something that tastes great, we may choose it more often and eat more of it compared to foods that we perceive to taste awful. As you can imagine, that makes it naturally easier for some people to eat “well,” more than others. And it’s not your fault.
So let’s talk about how some of your genes can alter what flavors you enjoy (high-fat? sweet?) and therefore the foods you prefer.
How Genes Can Influence Your Food Preferences
Your genes have a hand at which foods you prefer because of their impact on how you perceive different tastes and flavors.
Before we dig into some of the gene variants that do this, know that some of your food preferences are due to what foods you’ve been exposed to during your life. Both your genes and your exposures have a hand at shaping your experience of different flavors. And what flavors you enjoy the most can influence weight balance.
Some of us have gene variants that can “mess with” our taste buds. Let’s discuss four of them: APOA2, TAS2R38, FAAH and SLC2A2.
APOA2 - For The Love Of Fat Gene
The APOA2, or Apolipoprotein A2, gene can sway your tastebuds toward preferring foods that can increase weight gain. If you have the CC variant of this gene, you may prefer high-fat or high saturated fat foods. Now remember, genes are signposts. Just because you have this variant, does not mean you are a high fat junky. It’s an observation from peer reviewed published science and from science we know that some people gravitate towards the mouthfeel, taste and even comfort of higher-fat ingredients and foods.
These foods are often quite energy and calorically dense such as convenience or snacking foods, but it is possible that this gene may steer you towards more nutrient-dense high-fat foods like avocado, or olives or olive oil. Because these high-fat foods have a healthier quotient of nutrient and phytonutrient companions with them, they are better choices than high-fat low-nutrient foods.
TAS2R38 - The “Supertaster” Gene
An interesting gene (and one of my favorites) is the “supertaster” gene called TAS2R38 . Different variants of this gene can sway our taste buds towards preferring sweeter tasting foods and steer us away from earthy, pungent or what some people call “bitter” foods. These foods include dark chocolate, coffee and beer, as well as cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts.
If you happen to have inherited two copies of the “AVI” variant of the “supertaster” gene, bitter flavors don’t bother you. However, if you have two copies of the “PAV” variant, you are likely to be much more sensitive to these flavors and find these foods bitter and abhorrent. (Now if you have one copy of AVI and one of PAV, then you perceive the bitterness, but don’t find them to be exceptionally bitter.) This is a genetic reason for being deterred from eating some of the more nutritious foods like crucifers. Some of you may not realize that you have been unconsciously avoiding certain foods for years. Is this you?
It turns out that some of these foods, namely crucifers, are among the most important foods for you to put on your plate. And you’ve been avoiding them! Read here for more insights.
The variations of this gene can go a step farther to partly explain why some people have a “sweet tooth.” That’s because the substitute for bitter flavors is sweet. So depending on the variation of the TAS2R38 gene that you inherited, you may prefer sweeter or more carbohydrate-dense foods because when carbohydrates are eaten, they are broken down into sugars, giving a sweet taste.
FAAH - Sweet And Fast Gene
Another gene called FAAH (Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase) can also determine whether you gravitate toward sweets, pastries and those sticky, yummy, often carbohydrate-rich or high-fat foods that you may know as “fast” foods. Some people just like the taste and mouthfeel. They love carbs and sweetness. They may love salty food as well. This FAAH gene can steer somebody in that direction.
SLC2A2 - The Cookie Jar Gene
I laughed when one of my colleagues named SLC2A2 the cookie jar gene, because we can all picture a hand in the cookie jar! As you know from reading my work, one gene will not make or break a habit or shape your palate. But when we’re talking sweet tooth, this gene is usually among the cast of gene characters that shapes our desire to snack on those sweet delights. Yes indeed, genes can and do influence the brain's response to and appetite for sweet or sugary foods. And as you know from my article: Why Am I Always Hungry, genes can greatly influence food desire, hunger and snacking regardless of willpower.
What Variants of These “Tasting” Genes Mean for Weight Balance
Having these gene variants doesn’t mean you will be overweight! But if you think that some of these sweet, convenient, or high-fat foods that you may prefer carry a lot more calories than if you were to love kale salads and roasted Brussels sprouts.
This is the way that your genes can lean your flavor preferences towards foods that are more pleasing to your personal palate.
So, the role your genes can play in weight balance is by changing your perception of the foods you’re attracted to and over expose you to foods that would be less conducive to weight balance.
How to Mask The Bitterness of Crucifers
Cruciferous vegetables like kale, broccoli and Brussels sprouts can be enjoyed even if you naturally find yourself to be very sensitive to the bitterness. Here are a few ways to mask that bitterness.
Choose Less Pungent Crucifers
If the flavor of Brussels sprouts is too much for you, then choose less pungent options such as radishes, bok choy or mizuna.
Choose Younger Crucifers
Some crucifers are less pungent when they’re young so if you can find younger versions try avoiding more mature ones.
Cook Your Crucifers
Cooking or roasting crucifers with oils and spices can mask the earthiness and bitterness while accentuating other flavors.
Pair Crucifers With Other Foods
Look for recipes that pair crucifers with fresh or dried fruit like apples, oranges, peaches, or strawberries. The sweetness of the fruit can distract from the pungency of the crucifers. Try my Root Vegetable Slaw recipe and see for yourself.
Add Crucifers Into Your Favorite Smoothie
If all else fails, you can add a handful of cruciferous leaves into a fruit-based smoothie.
Key Take-Aways
You may have inherited a “sweet tooth,” a love of high-fat or high-carbohydrate foods or a dislike of bitter foods like broccoli and kale.
Your genes can influence the flavors you enjoy and this can affect which foods you prefer to eat.
When genes influence taste preferences, they influence food choices and that can have implications for weight balance.
There are many ways to reduce the bitterness of crucifers. Try them and see.
References
Abdullah, M., Vazquez-Vidal, I., Baer, D. J., House, J. D., Jones, P., & Desmarchelier, C. (2021). Common Genetic Variations Involved in the Inter-Individual Variability of Circulating Cholesterol Concentrations in Response to Diets: A Narrative Review of Recent Evidence. Nutrients, 13(2), 695. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13020695
American Heart Association. (2019, November 11). Sensitivity to bitter tastes may be why some people eat fewer vegetables. ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191111084916.htm
Archibald, A. 2019. The Genomic Kitchen: Your Guide To Understanding And Using The Food-Gene Connection For A Lifetime Of Health. [LINK: https://www.genomickitchen.com/book-the-genomic-kitchen] Field to Plate LLC DBA The Genomic Kitchen.
