Gustatory Mechanisms for Fat Detection

Excerpt

The incidence of obesity continues to escalate, and with it, there has been a corresponding increase in as many as 30 diseases related to the obese state, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and end-stage renal disease. Recent estimates place the number of overweight and obese individuals in the United States at roughly one third and two thirds of the population, respectively (CDC/DHHS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). While obesity is clearly a disease that has multiple etiologies, there are compelling data indicating a link between the recent surge in obesity and a corresponding increase in dietary fat intake (Bray and Popkin, 1998, 1999; Bray et al., 2004). Despite this link, there has been comparatively little attention paid to the sensory cues provided by dietary fats which might precipitate their intake over the short and long terms. Over the past decade, however, the idea that fats might provide salient cues to the gustatory system consistent with there being a “taste of fat” has gained credence. Research in this area holds great promise in understanding the role of the gustatory system in both the recognition of dietary fat and the eventual control of fat intake.