酸甜咸苦鲜 舌头还有“第六感”？

If you cannot resist a stodgy cake or chips, it may not be simply down to lack of willpower.

如果你无法抵制油腻的蛋糕或是薯条的诱惑，那可不仅仅是因为缺乏意志力。

Some of us have a sixth sense of taste – for fat – and those of us who lack it could be more susceptible to piling on the pounds.

我们中有一些人对脂肪有味觉第六感。而没有脂肪味觉的其他人，就会容易受到影响造成体重增加。

For years it was thought that the tongue could detect just four elements of taste – sweet, sour, salt and bitter. Then a fifth ‘savoury’ one was discovered.

长期以来人们认为舌头可以识别四种基本味觉元素：甜酸咸苦，后来我们我们又发现了第五种味觉：鲜味。

Now scientists believe a genetic variant can make some people far more sensitive to fat molecules than others.

现在科学家们认为，因为基因变异，会是有些人对脂肪分子比其他人更敏感。

Until now, it had been assumed that the desire to eat fatty foods was to do with the sensory system, with some people attracted to its smell and texture.

到目前为止，人们的普通观点认为，想吃油腻的食物跟感官系统有关，有许多人就是沉迷于油腻食物的味道和质感。

But the Washington University School of Medicine researchers found that obese people’s cravings for fatty food may be related to their levels of a receptor called CD36.

华盛顿大学医学院的研究者发现，肥胖人群对油腻食物的渴望可能跟他们体内的一种叫CD36的受体蛋白质的指数有关。

Those with more of it are better at detecting the presence of fatty food, and seemingly less likely to gorge on it. Twenty-one overweight people were asked to taste solutions from three cups and point to which was different. One contained small amounts of a fatty oil, while the other two were fat-free.

CD36受体指数越高，对油腻食物的识别能力就越好，也就不太可能暴饮暴食高脂肪的油腻食物。研究者要求31名超重人士品尝三杯溶液然后指出哪一杯不同。其中一杯含有少量的脂肪油，其他两杯则不含。

Participants who made the most CD36 were eight times more sensitive to the presence of the fat than those who made around half the amount.

体内含有最多CD36受体的实验参与者，对脂肪的敏感度要比其他只有一半CD36的参与者高8倍。

Researcher Professor Nada Abumrad said the finding could help treat obesity by finding a way to increase sensitivity to it.

实验的研究者、Nada Abumrad教授表示，这一发现可以通过提高对脂肪的敏感程度来治疗肥胖症。

‘What we will need to determine in the future is whether our ability to detect fat in foods influences our fat intake, which clearly would have an impact on obesity,’ she said.

她表示：“在未来我们需要确定，是否是我们对食物中脂肪的识别能力影响着我们的脂肪摄入，而脂肪摄入量则会影响肥胖症。”

As people eat more fat, it is possible they need more and more to satisfy their cravings, the researchers told the Journal of Lipid Research.

研究者对《脂肪研究期刊》表示，人们摄入的脂肪越多，就可能越来越需要满足他们的食欲。

小编碎碎念：弱弱的说一句，我一直以为舌头的5大基本味觉是酸甜苦辣咸，竟然是酸甜咸苦鲜？oh no，偶的世界观被颠覆了...