OK I had to post this today because my friend Astrid has such a strong reaction to the Brussels Sprouts recipe I posted last night. She said, “I do NOT do brussels sprouts. Yuk!” They are about as tasty as beets, to me and Brandon. In fact I have a hard time stopping myself from extra helping. *Hears the left overs screaming to eat them in the fridge*.

Anyway, Brandon had mentioned that Brussels Sprouts and our like or dislike of them has something to do with our genetics. This morning I had to up-and-Adam and find the “study” so I knew more about what he was talking about.

Curious, do you like or dislike Brussels Sprouts?

((ARTICLE))

ScienceDaily (Feb. 25, 2005) — Philadelphia, PA — Why do brussels sprouts taste bitterly repellent to one person and bland – or even delicious – to the next?

A study published in the February 22 issue of Current Biology confirms the influential role of genetics in determining the wide range of human sensitivity to taste, ultimately impacting how we each perceive the world in a slightly different way.

“Each human carries their own distinctive set of taste receptors which gives them a unique perception of how foods and medicines taste,” explains Monell Chemical Senses Center psychophysicist Paul Breslin, PhD, who shares first authorship and is a corresponding contributor for the study. “This paper shows that a single gene codes for multiple forms of a taste receptor, with each form having a differing sensitivity to taste compounds. Further, a person’s perceptual sensitivity to these bitter tasting compounds corresponds strikingly well with their genetically-determined receptor sensitivity.”

Full article at Science Daily:

Individual Differences In Taste Perception Directly Related To Genetic Variation In Taste Receptors.

Be well.

Scott

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