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An ability to sense (and avoid) bitterness evolved because it kept us safe from nasty plant-produced toxins. So why are bitter things - from coffee to chocolate to beer - some of our favorite foods these days?

Here's early access to our newest video! We'd love to hear your take on bitter flavors. 

-Kate

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Our love-hate relationship with bitter food

Want exclusive MinuteFood perks AND feel-good vibes? Visit http://patreon.com/Minutefood to join our new exclusive community! If disliking bitter foods evolved to keep us alive, why do we LOVE some bitter foods? 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰 𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆-𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘁𝘆: -Breslin PA. An evolutionary perspective on food and human taste. Curr Biol. 2013 May 6;23(9):R409-18. doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2013.04.010. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3680351/ -Drewnowski A. The science and complexity of bitter taste. Nutr Rev. 2001 Jun;59(6):163-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1753-4887.2001.tb07007.x. https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/59/6/163/1934257 -Nissim I, Dagan-Wiener A, Niv MY. The taste of toxicity: A quantitative analysis of bitter and toxic molecules. IUBMB Life. 2017 Dec;69(12):938-946. doi: 10.1002/iub.1694. Epub 2017 Nov 11. https://iubmb.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/iub.1694 -Reed DR, Knaapila A. Genetics of taste and smell: poisons and pleasures. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci. 2010;94:213-40. doi: 10.1016/B978-0-12-375003-7.00008-X. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B978012375003700008X -Wang X, Thomas SD, Zhang J. Relaxation of selective constraint and loss of function in the evolution of human bitter taste receptor genes. Hum Mol Genet. 2004 Nov 1;13(21):2671-8. doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddh289. https://academic.oup.com/hmg/article/13/21/2671/587482 -Wooding S. Signatures of natural selection in a primate bitter taste receptor. J Mol Evol. 2011 Dec;73(5-6):257-65. doi: 10.1007/s00239-011-9481-0. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00239-011-9481-0 -Wooding SP, Ramirez VA, Behrens M. Bitter taste receptors: Genes, evolution and health. Evol Med Public Health. 2021 Oct 13;9(1):431-447. doi: 10.1093/emph/eoab031. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8830313/ 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲) 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀: -https://slate.com/technology/2015/01/why-do-we-like-bitter-foods.html -https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/t-magazine/bitter-food.html -https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/ptc 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿-𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗰: -Dr. Stephen Wooding, Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Heritage Studies at the University of California Merced MinuteFood is created by Kate Yoshida, Arcadi Garcia & Bill Mead, and produced by Neptune Studios LLC. Youtube | https://youtube.com/minutefood TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minutefood_ Twitter | https://twitter.com/minutefood Instagram | https://instagram.com/minutefood_ Facebook | https://facebook.com/minutefood

Comments

stolenshortsword

ooh, this one I'm very curious about. my mother grew up hating bitter melon, but now sees it as a treat - that comment that as you age your bitter reception lose power really rings true. conversely, I adore sour candy, but she hates it. I'm quite youthful myself, although she used to tolerate sourness more when she was younger. she makes a distinctive 'sour' face (like the bitter one) whenever she tries lemon gelato or something. is there a similar genetic reason for this - where sour receptors get more powerful with age?

minutefood

This is a REALLY interesting question. There's a lot of research that's found that kids like sour stuff more than adults, but researchers are still working on WHY that is! This paper has some interesting hypotheses, including that it's related to novelty-seeking behavior or dietary diversity: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2789429/