Jun 9, 2011 12:39 GMT  ·  By
Sugar was proven to numb taste buds, making people more likely to consume sugary foods and drinks
   Sugar was proven to numb taste buds, making people more likely to consume sugary foods and drinks

Researchers in the United Kingdom have recently determined that consuming sweet drinks tends to numb taste buds on the tongue, lowering people's sensitivity to the taste. The correlation is very strong in the overweight and the obese, but also in normal-weight individuals.

The investigation was carried out by experts at the University of Bristol and the University of Bangor. Experts hear learned that soft drinks also tend to enhance subconscious cravings for sweet food.

This is very dangerous for people who are already either overweight or obese, the investigators say. They add that the connection was something to be expected though, so they were not surprise to find it.

What puzzled them was the fact that consuming soft drinks – at the rate of 2 per day for a month – made the taste buds of normal-weight people numb as well. An increased preference for sweet food then emerged in this study group as well.

According to the team, lean people who did not already have a 'sweet tooth’ were the most likely to succumb to the new temptation. Experts say that they also found a vicious circle related to sugar.

People who had a sweet tooth tended to extract smaller and smaller rewards from the sweet foods they ate, and the soft drinks they consumed. As such, they displayed a tendency to consume even more such products, in a self-sustaining vicious cycle that further numbed their taste buds.

“This has serious implications for public health. This research shows how little sweet food stuffs are required to actually change your taste perceptions and how powerful sweet tasting products are,” says Dr. Hans-Peter Kubis.

“We are heading for a multi-level health disaster with rising obesity levels and the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes,” adds the expert, who is a professor at the Bangor School of Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences.

“From our research it is clear to see how this situation may have created a cycle of sweet food and drink consumption. As taste satisfaction levels drop; the more sweet foods are consumed, contributing to these problems,” he adds. Kubis was the leader of the research effort.

“We have known for some time that the way that we perceive different tastes can change under different circumstances,” explains Bristol School of Physiology and Pharmacology expert Dr. Lucy Donaldson.

“This finding, that a couple of sweet drinks a day over a short time can dramatically change taste, was a real surprise,” she concludes.

Details of the new work were published in a recent issue of the esteemed medical journal Appetite.