Here is an excerpt from my new book in progress… this content is being released ahead of publication in a course on Neuropsychoidiology. For more information on that course head to the Centre for Applied Neuroscience: https://www.knowyourbrain.ca/npi
Do we all taste the same way? Nope. Taste (i.e., the gustatory system) is the result of tiny chemicals from foods that are detected by receptors deep within the taste buds on the tongue. Taste also requires the participation of smell (i.e., the olfactory system) where tiny chemicals are detected by receptors in the nose. Taste also incorporates stimulation of the trigeminal nerve (one of the 12 cranial nerves), which codes for texture, pain, and temperature. The way in which this manifests in each individual varies. I love cilantro. But I have a friend who thinks cilantro tastes terrible, like soap in fact. She’s not alone. These people have olfactory-receptor genes that allow them to taste flavours in aldehydes (i.e., a broken-down component of alcohol) that they call “soapy”. This gene is really important in this experience because literally, without a receptor, a particular aldehyde would have nowhere to doc onto, therein preventing us from experiencing the taste. Cilantro leaves have many of these soapy aldehydes but most people (about 80%, although it varies by region) don’t taste them, because they lack the gene. Places that use a lot of cilantro (e.g., India and Central America) have fewer people in their population with this gene. That does make me wonder though, about someone who had grown up in a culture that uses lots of cilantro. Without this neuropsychoidiology knowledge, they might be liable to feel isolated, disconnected, or confused by their dislike of the foods available to them. I also wonder then, how that basic biological differences could then lead to a specific relationship with food. Maybe they don’t care for food. Maybe they hate it.
To read a scientific article about how A Genetic Variant Near Olfactory Receptor Genes Influences Cilantro Preference, go here: https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/2044-7248-1-22. In short, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) is associated with soapy-taste detection. This genetic variation lies along a DNA strand within chromosome 11 where several olfactory receptor genes are located. The olfactory gene, OR6A2, is a gene with high binding for several of the aldehydes that give cilantro its characteristic odor.
As I write this section, we are in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic started in January in the eastern hemisphere of the world and didn’t officially claim pandemic status until March 11th, 2020. By mid-February of the COVID-19 outbreak (before it was considered a pandemic), I had another interesting taste experience. It coincided with two fainting issues that I had, which landed me in the emergency. As I was describing my experiences to the ER doctor, I kept wanting to tell them that I also had this weird taste sensation emerge. A few days before, I could not handle the taste of vinegar, to the point whereupon serving some of the dinner, I grabbed the food from in front of everyone and threw it out yelling “The vinegar is bad. You can’t eat that!!”. My family tried to convince me it was fine but I figured I just had a keener sense of it and they didn’t know. I should have known otherwise though. It was 4 other mouths against my 1. Then, for the next few days, I noticed that anything that had vinegar in it turned my nose. Even ketchup, with its subtle amount of vinegar, was completely disgusting to me. Although I found this fascinating and a bit concerning, I never did mention it to the ER doc while describing the symptoms of my fainting. Although it was connected in time, there didn’t seem to be any other connection. Plus, I already feel “crazy” sometimes when I go to my doctors and make connections that seem really eccentric. However, in hindsight, I now wonder if this was connected to COVID-19. For us in Toronto, the SARS-COV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 was not thought to have arrived yet. Yet, during my fainting and taste experience, there were also some other symptoms that were circulating in our household, including fevers and other cold-like symptoms. Now, months later, we know that several scientific and medical reports exist detailing dysgeusia (distorted taste) as being a common symptom of COVID-19.
I can’t help but wonder if I did have COVID-19 even back in February in Toronto and should have mentioned it, even if it did make me sound crazy. Maybe COVID-19 was here already. I happen to think it was and we hadn’t detected it yet and I suspect we will see reports on that much later. But related to neuropsychoidiology, I think I quite possibly may have detected something. But I chose not to disclose it because, very likely, no one would have taken that information seriously because it simply would have been ahead of its time. This amount of self-reflection and self-awareness will sound crazy for the most part. Some of it might actually be wrong. I don’t know if I had COVID-19 and won’t know even if I did at that time specifically. But if I did, then it is a good example of the value of self-awareness. Perhaps that was trivial. Some other times, likely detecting your own cancer, brain tumor, or heart issues because you feel “funny” might not.