If you despise veggies or experience them as bitter, you could be like millions of your fellow humans. It’s also feasible that you’re “gifted.”

Early the other morning, while sprinting through the quiet (sans some inspired, singing desert birds) streets of downtown Phoenix, I learned about these individuals with extra tastebuds from a friend.

The chit-chat between sets began innocuously with conversation about the heat of food and coffee and how it impacts our taste and interpretation of flavors. She proceeded to tell me that she digs just about everything lukewarm. I can’t get on that train. I appreciate coffee and food hot, both in temperature and spice. She proceeded to suggest that it was because she is a supertaster and mild flavors strike the right balance for her. The heat, she reckoned, turned up the intensity and rendered them less palatable.

C’mon. I wasn’t buying that nonsense. To be fair, early sprints can make folks a little loopy. Figuring she might be in a state of delirium, I laughed as if she was joking when she mentioned the phenomenon.

We (fine, I) get caught up in our own paradigm so much that we tend to think common ground is an absolute. Turns out my skepticism had steered me wrong, and I became unreasonably cynical on the matter. This supertasting is an actual thing. From pbslearningmedia.org:

With the help of scientist Linda Bartoshuck, correspondent and New York Times technology columnist David Pogue explores what taste buds are and how people experience taste. Bartoshuck explains that some people, called “supertasters,” have a higher than average number of taste buds and are more sensitive to tastes. In addition, because taste buds are surrounded by pain fibers, supertasters are more sensitive to the burn from certain foods, such as hot peppers.

Damn. It must suck to be a supertaster. And really, shouldn’t that name be reserved for folks who can roll with every flavor and temperature? This is akin to calling the dude in the room with who has to be careful with his delicate body “Superman.” Apologies for the digression. This is a health and lifestyle blog.

Speaking of which, supertasters may be privy to some unique health benefits and drawbacks, depending on the severity of their sensitivity to food and their willingness to eat their veggies. This isn’t surprising. From the Wall Street Journal:

Recent research has uncovered some surprising health consequences of being a supertaster. People who are supertasters have a heightened risk for developing colon cancer, possibly because they tend to avoid eating vegetables, one study found. Another found they have a tendency to like salty food, which may block bitter tastes.

Thanks to my pops, I gather, I crush vegetables. Raw, cooked, hot cold, bitter, sweet. You may remember our musings on dark greens and Brussels sprouts. There’s zero sensitivity here.

On the positive side, supertasters tend to be leaner than the general population, possibly because they often find fatty foods distasteful. And a study last year showed that supertasters were better able to fend off some bacterial sinus infections than people who have normal tasting abilities, perhaps because of a protective ability afforded by the supertaster gene.

We know for certain that it’s not about finding fatty foods distasteful. Avoiding fat does not keep us lean. I’ll have to follow up with my sprint partner and find out if the gene theory holds water anecdotally and report back.

Until then, for all of us non-supertasters, let us not feel inferior to those with the master tastebuds. After all, we get to shake cayenne pepper on our sautéed mushrooms. We have the pleasure of leaving our favorite coffee house and take a sip right away. No cooling necessary.

Supertasters? Psfftttt.

Strong mind,

Kap

PS: Do you just hate veggies or are you special? Find out…maybe.