Flavor and taste recognition impairments in people with type 1 diabetes

Abstract

Background/objectives: Adherence to dietary recommendations is a critical component in the management of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Taste and flavor significantly influence food choices. The aim of this study was to investigate taste sensitivity and flavor recognition ability in adults with T1D compared to healthy individuals.

Subjects/methods: Seventy-two people with T1D and 72 matched healthy controls participated in the study. Participants underwent the gustometry test for sweet, sour, salty, and bitter tastes and the flavor test, which consisted of oral administration of aqueous aromatic solutions identifying 21 different compounds.

Results: Participants with T1D had significantly lower flavor scores and gustometry scores than controls (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0063, respectively). T1D individuals showed a lower perception of sour, bitter and salty tastes than controls, while the perception of sweet taste was similar. The sex differences and age-related decline in flavor perception observed in controls were not present in the participants with T1D. Neither BMI nor disease-related parameters such as fasting blood glucose on the day of the study, glycosylated hemoglobin, age at onset of diabetes, duration of diabetes, or type of insulin treatment (insulin pump or multiple daily injections) correlated with flavor and taste perception in the T1D participants.

Conclusions: Flavor and taste perception are impaired in adults with T1D, potentially affecting dietary adherence and food choices. This highlights the need for further research into the mechanisms underlying sensory changes in T1D and emphasizes the importance of targeted dietary interventions to improve health outcomes and quality of life in this population.

Fig. 1

Flavor (A) and taste (B) scores in participants with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and control subjects. In panel C–F the perception of the specific essential tastes are shown. The figure shows the mean ± SE of the values obtained. Exact p-values calculated with Mann–Whitney tests are indicated.

Fig. 2

Assessment of flavor (A, C, and E) and taste (B, D, and F) in the population studied, broken down by sex (A and B) and as a function of age (C and D) and BMI (E and F). The panels from A to F show the individual values and the mean values in different groups. A significant inverse correlation was only found between age and flavor scores in the control subjects (p = 0.0063). The standardized coefficients from the regression model are shown for flavor perception (panel G) and taste (panel H) for T1D, sex, age and BMI. Black bars represent non-significant predictors, while white bars represent significant predictors. The p-values are shown on the right-hand side of the bars.

Fig. 3

Correlations between the evaluation of flavor (A, C, E, G) and taste (B, D, F, H) and clinical parameters (fasting blood glucose level on the day of the test [Glu], glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c], age at onset of diabetes, and duration of diabetes). None of the parameters examined showed a significant correlation with flavor or taste scores.

Fig. 4

Influence of type of insulin treatment in T1D participants on flavor (A) and taste (B) scores. The figure shows the mean ± SE of the values obtained. White bars represent scores in T1D participants treated with insulin pump, while gray bar are the scores in T1D participants receiving multiple daily insuline injections. The differences were not significant.