I'm just a Spring Warm trying to figure out what to eat
a silly question had me opening up my college genetics textbooks
Dear reader,
In a desperate attempt to inform my biannual closet clean-out and participate in a bizarre internet trend, I decided to “get my colors done.” An hour in Times Square and $250 later, I had a palette of “approved” colors to wear, an order to never wear a black turtleneck again, an insatiable desire to replace everything I owned, and a nagging question:
So, I decided to learn more about the interaction between my genetics and my taste.
How does taste work?
At a very basic level, when you eat food, the chemical substances that are responsible for the food’s taste come into contact with nerve cells in the mouth. The chemicals activate the nerve cells, causing a sensory cell to send a signal to other nerve cells until they reach the gustatory complex in the brain, which interprets the “taste” and responds by saying “yuck” or “yum.”
There are five basic qualities of taste, which can be tasted by any part of the tongue, (depending on your genes — but we’ll get to that): sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami. Some researchers, likely the ones lobbying to reinstate Pluto as a planet, are investigating whether to add fatty, alkaline (opposite of sour), metallic, and watery as additional tastes.1
How do genes influence my sense of taste?
Genetics, obviously, play a role in how we look and how we metabolize food, but they also influence which foods we like:
There are >30 genes that determine if, and how, we perceive the five major tastes, making up a genetically determined “taste score.” In a recent study of over 6,200 adults, researchers found that if people have a genetic predisposition to tasting bitter and umami flavors, they are likely to eat less of them (i.e. if you experience bitter tastes strongly, you’re less likely to eat whole grains and bitter vegetables).2
Preference for sweets is also genetic, other studies show.3
So-called “supertasters,” those with more taste buds and pain receptors on their tongues, taste more intensely than average tasters. They often eat fewer vegetables, resulting in health issues like colorectal cancer and metabolic disorders.4
As I hurriedly downloaded my 23andMe data this week, I reviewed my reports: I love cilantro, I am (thankfully) lactose tolerant, I prefer salty to sweet, Brussels sprouts taste bitter to me, and my pee smells funny after I eat asparagus.
Do the genes that dictate how I look influence what I like to eat?
No, none of the genetic markers for eye color, skin color, and most hair colors seem to be connected to taste. But as you can see, many colors are in my color palette — and in general, eating fruits and vegetables of different colors is good — the different vitamins, phytonutrients, and antioxidants is good for protecting against different chronic diseases.
Note: red hair, however, is caused by a mutation of a gene that causes hair to have more pheomelanin (a type of melanin). This mutation may influence how bodies process dopamine, meaning that red heads may be more conscious of pain, and therefore averse to spicy food.5 (shout out to my college roommate Abby, who couldn’t handle a drop of Tabasco!)
Can you change your color season by changing what you eat?
Kind of, but don’t. The algorithm has served me a few influencers pitching that I can achieve warmer “glow” by eating a bell pepper a day. I immediately texted my dermatologist, Dr. Elizabeth Kream (@drkreamderm), who responded that an excess of beta carotene would result in “a yellow/orange hue but it won’t look like a nice tan, you’d look unwell / possibly even jaundice and it will be most noticeable on the palms and soles. I saw it once during residency and it was by no means something one would aspire for.”
There are, however, certain foods that are great for your skin, according to Dr. Kream. Diindolylmethane (DIM), a phytochemical found in cruciferous vegetables (e.g., broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower), is great for hormonal acne, as is spearmint tea. And, early data shows that oral collagen may actually help do something besides make your morning smoothie taste like chalk!
So, what?
While my genes dictate that I taste bitter strongly, I’ve learned to love it, and will continue to eat more (likely by adding radicchio to my kale Caesar salads). You can learn to like different food.
Personalized nutrition companies and dietitians could use taste scores (not color seasons) to build nutritional guidance that could result in better adherence — because people will actually like it.
Other Stuff & Things
DoorDash announced a partnership with Klarna (in addition to its partnerships with Instacart and Uber Eats) so that you can finance your groceries. I don’t have anything snarky to write about this. I think we need to make healthy groceries more affordable and accessible to everyone.
Voice-to-order will soon be possible at Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC. This seems like a great application of AI to replace low-complexity tasks in F&B. That said, I only want to do this from the seat of a car.
Edible Arrangements is getting into another kind of edibles business — and I love it. Not the type of innovation I expected from a multi-generational family business.
The Ordinary, typically a purveyor of low-priced Hyaluronic Acid, sold eggs at a normal price in NYC. This seems like a less expensive and more fun marketing play than the Poppi fridge stunt (looking forward to
’s take!).You may need to drive across state lines to get your gummy worms: West Virginia is the first state to ban seven artificial food dyes (20 states are in the process). The science behind these bans is not definitive, but more widespread bans will likely result in reformulations that will make many of these ultra-processed foods a bit safer (but still not good for you).
Michael Fassbender’s cooking in Black Bag (in theaters) is exquisite — even if he slips in a bit of poison.
Recent Bites
I made the trek to Pitt’s in Red Hook and will be back. If green goddess butter escargot in a lettuce wrap sounds weird but good, you should go too.
Tashkent Supermarket, a Brighton Beach staple for Uzbek food, recently opened its West Village location. Go for impossibly cheap produce, Imeruli Khacahapuri (cheese-stuffed flatbread), syrniki (quark pancakes), and the most mouth-watering salad bar you’ve ever seen.
- ’s Seduce Me Broccoli Pasta seduced me. I added a lemon’s worth of zest and juice, and more parm than was responsible.
eat your broccoli — even if it tastes bitter,
Sophia
Catch Up
Previously on Sophia is Voracious:
InformedHealth.org. Cologne, Germany: Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG); 2006-. In brief: How does our sense of taste work? [Updated 2023 Jan 24]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279408/
Julie E. Gervis et al.: The Journal of Nutrition. Bitter- and Umami-Related Genes are Differentially Associated with Food Group Intakes: the Framingham Heart Study. 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2022.11.005
Kaisu Keskitalo et al.: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Sweet taste preferences are partly genetically determined: identification of a trait locus on chromosome 16. https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/86.1.55
Gastropod. Hacking Taste. 2017. https://gastropod.com/hacking-taste-transcript/
Cleveland Clinic. Why Red Heads May Need More Anesthesia. 2024. https://health.clevelandclinic.org/why-do-redheads-need-more-anesthesia