科学家发现舌头也有第六感

　　我们都知道人会有第六感，只是有些人的第六感比较强烈，而有些人比较弱一些。但是科学家发现，我们的舌头居然也有第六感觉——对脂肪的味觉第六感。

　　等等，在说明这个之前让我们先看看舌头都有哪五感吧!首先，舌头的五种味觉感应是：酸甜咸鲜苦。这是我们每个正常人都拥有的本能，通过舌头我们能敏锐的区分出食物的味道。但是近来科学家发现了有些人也拥有着第六种感觉，那就是对脂肪的感觉。相对应的那些人如果没有对脂肪的感觉，就会很容易受到体重增加的影响。

　　Sweet, sour, salt, savoury, bitter AND fat: Scientists discover that tongue has 'sixth sense' for lipids

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

　　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.

　　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.

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

　　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.

　　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.

　　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.

　　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.

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

　　‘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.

　　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.