212 | id == 212
212 | category_id == 18
212 | category_order == 15
212 | category_name == Weight
212 | category_color == #C47AC0
212 | slug == weight-loss-TAS2R38
212 | title == A Link Between Bitter Taste and Body Weight (TAS2R38)
212 | meta_description == TAS2R38 is a bitter taste receptor. How is sensing bitter tastes linked to weight gain and obesity? Click here to find out.
212 | summary == <p><strong>How sensitive we are to bitterness has an impact on our food choices, which in turn may influence our body weight. The TAS2R38 gene encodes a bitter taste receptor. Read on to learn more about this gene and weight.</strong></p>
212 | overall_score_text == Weight Loss Score (Based on TAS2R38)
212 | image == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/background/TAS2R38--Weight.jpg
212 | author_id == 10
212 | author_name == Biljana Novkovic
212 | author_title == PhD
212 | author_order == 50
212 | author_photo == https://sd-selfdecode-assets-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/blog/author-photo/Biljana.jpg
212 | author_intro == <p><strong>Biljana received her PhD in Ecological Genetics from Hokkaido University.</strong></p>    <p>Before joining SelfHacked, she was a research scientist with extensive field and laboratory experience. She spent 4 years reviewing the scientific literature on supplements, lab tests and other areas of health sciences. She is passionate about releasing the most accurate science &amp; health information available on topics, and she&#39;s meticulous when writing and reviewing articles to make sure the science is sound. She believes that SelfHacked has the best science that is also layperson-friendly on the web.</p>
212 | reviewer == None
212 | medical_reviewer_id == 11
212 | medical_reviewer_name == Puya Yazdi
212 | medical_reviewer_title == MD
212 | publish_date == 2020
212 | publish_date == 6
212 | publish_date == 15
212 | avg_rating == 5.0
212 | tags_id == 183
212 | tags_name == Diet
212 | tags_id == 165
212 | tags_name == Obesity
212 | tags_id == 488
212 | tags_name == TAS2R38
212 | tags_id == 487
212 | tags_name == Taste
212 | tags_id == 115
212 | tags_name == Weight Gain
212 | tags_id == 184
212 | tags_name == Weight Loss
212 | permissions_favorite == False
212 | permissions_rate == False
212 | content_article == <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">This article is for informational purposes only. None of the information here should be taken as medical advice. If you are struggling to maintain a healthy weight, seek medical help. </span></em><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep in mind that these results are based on association studies, which are correlative and aren&rsquo;t necessarily causative. Any single genetic variant will typically contribute only a small proportion to the overall risk of the condition, and non-genetic factors play a large role in developing a condition as well. Therefore, just because you have one of these genotypes does not necessarily mean you are at an increased risk of developing this condition!</span></em></p> <h2><strong>What is <em>TAS2R38</em>?</strong></h2> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">, short for taste receptor type 2 member 38, encodes one of the 25 taste receptors that detect bitterness. It is responsible for tasting the bitterness of foods like cabbage and raw broccoli or drinks like coffee and dark beers [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595690/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bitter taste is one of the major reasons for accepting or rejecting different foods. So it's not surprising that mutations in this gene have been linked to higher or lower intakes of cruciferous vegetables, coffee, beer and wine. Some studies also suggest TAS2R38 may account for one's preference for sweet foods over bitter ones [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3778862/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4235829/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28738701/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24912558/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28232057/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21763010/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Interestingly, researchers found that these receptors are also found in the brain, lungs, gut, and thyroid, where they probably play roles unrelated to diet [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16710053/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> encodes a bitter taste receptor. Variations in this gene have been linked to preference or avoidance of bitter foods and drinks, such as cruciferous vegetables, coffee, and beer.</span></span></p> <h2><strong><em>TAS2R38</em> Variants and Body Weight</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Our food preferences influence what we eat and in what amounts, which in turn affects our body weight. That's what drove scientists to look into a possible link between the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> gene and obesity.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a Spanish study with over 1.3k people, obesity and BMI were linked to having a specific genotype in three SNPs in the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> gene, which are often linked and inherited together [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27059147/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs713598&nbsp; 'CC'&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs1726866 'AA'</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs10246939 'TT'</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this study, the link with obesity was stronger in younger people (&lt;40), which may be because the sense of taste in general tends to get weaker with age [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27059147/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a Japanese study of 84 female college students, the same genotypes for these 3 SNPs were linked to higher energy and carb intake, and higher body weight. However, there was no difference in BMI, which means that these students also tended to be taller as well as heavier [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23535535/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In a Korean study with over 3.5k people, the 'TT' genotype of rs10246939, was associated with a 1.75 higher risk of being obese, but this link was found only in women, not men [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Finally, in a study with over 700 Amish, women with the 'A' allele for rs1726866 were more likely to overeat. Interestingly, this too was not&nbsp; true for men [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938875/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Three linked SNPs have been associated with body weight and obesity in several studies, but this association may be less relevant in men. One of these variants has also been linked to overeating in women.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <h2><strong>How It Works</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Have you ever wondered why foods that tasted bitter to others tasted just fine to you? Or vice versa?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are three main variants in the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> gene that are "linked", which means they are often inherited together:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs713598: where 'G' is the "taster" and 'C' is the "non-taster"</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs1726866: where 'G' is the "taster" and 'A' is the "non-taster"</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">rs10246939: where 'C' is the "taster" and 'T' is the "non-taster"</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">These variants account for up to 85% of individual differences in the perception of bitterness [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595690/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]!&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">People who have two copies of the "taster" variant in each of these SNPs are considered "super-tasters" [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595690/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930899/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">People with two copies of the "non-taster" variant for each SNP are considered "non-tasters" and are about 80% likely not to taste bitterness of specific foods [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12595690/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930899/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">]. This doesn't mean they don't taste bitterness at all, but it means they have a lower sensitivity to it.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may fall somewhere in between, in which case you have intermediate sensitivity to bitterness [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6930899/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">There are 3 linked variants in the </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> gene that together account for up to 85% individual differences in sensing bitterness. Non-tasters may find that certain foods that taste bitter to others don't taste bitter to them.</span></span></p> <h2><strong>Limitations</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because sensitivity to bitter taste is only a small part of the equation when it comes to body weight, take the studies above with a grain of </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">salt</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">. There are several other studies that failed to find a significant link between the above mentioned SNPs and body weight [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846558/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18719631/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28669668/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28738701/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28652185/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15883422/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In addition, although there does seem to be a link between people's sensitivity to bitter taste and body weight, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> genotypes don't always align with this sensitivity (phenotype) [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28669668/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In one genome-wide association study of 381 people, a higher total taste score (for bitter, salt, sweet, umami, and sour) was associated with lower body weight, BMI, and waist circumference. Which means the more people could taste, the less likely they were to be overweight. However, </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> SNPs independently explained only a low percentage of total taste variability</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">[</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31005965/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="background-color: #e8ebfc; border-left: 2px solid #4569fa; display: block; padding: 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Bitterness accounts for only a part of total taste variability, and there are a lot of other factors that influence a person's eating habits and body weight. Several studies have failed to find a link between </span><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">TAS2R38 </span></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">and BMI.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;</span></span></p> <h2><strong>Your <em>TAS2R38</em> Results for Obesity and Food Intake</strong></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">*5860031025438229*</span></p> <p><strong><em>TAS2R38 </em></strong><strong>rs713598:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'G' = the major "tasting" allele. People who carry this allele are "tasters"&nbsp;</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'C' = the minor "non-tasting" allele. People with two copies of this allele are "non-tasters"</span></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>TAS2R38 </em></strong><strong>rs1726866:</strong></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'G' = the major "tasting" allele, People who carry it have bitter tasting ability</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'A' = the minor allele. People with two copies are "non-tasters". Women with this allele may be more likely to overeat [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938875/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></li> </ul> <p><strong><em>TAS2R38 </em></strong><strong>rs10246939</strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">:</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'C' = the major "tasting" allele, People who carry it have bitter tasting ability</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;"><span style="font-weight: 400;">'T' = the minor allele. People with two copies are "non-tasters". They may be at a higher risk of obesity [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6770895/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></li> </ul> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Around 27% of people are non-tasters for rs713598 ('CC' genotype), 20% for rs1726866 ('AA' genotype), and 25% for rs10246939 ('TT' genotype).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As already mentioned, these 3 SNPs are often inherited together. People who are non-tasters for each of the three SNPs have an 80% chance of not being able to taste bitterness in certain foods, and they may have a higher risk of obesity [</span><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27059147/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, </span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853779/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">*5899204256933215*</span></p> <h2><strong>Recommendations to Improve Weight Control</strong></h2> <p><strong><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">You may try the complementary approaches listed below if you and your doctor determine that they could be appropriate for you. Discuss the strategies listed here with your doctor. Remember that none of them should ever be done in place of what your doctor recommends or prescribes.</span></em></strong></p> <p><strong>*3788256647253748*</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Studies suggest that sensing bitterness may affect how much we eat. If you are a non-taster for bitter foods, pay attention to the size of your meals. Avoid overeating by being mindful of your meal portions [</span><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2938875/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">R</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">].&nbsp;</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>
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212 | content_learn_more_5899204256933215_text == Based on the variants we looked at, your TAS2R38 gene is associated with intermediate sensitivity to bitterness in foods and drinks. Your genotype does not put you at a higher risk of obesity. However, this doesn't reflect your overall risk of obesity, just one gene related to it. Keep reading to learn more.
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rsIDs = rs713598,rs1726866,rs10246939
rsStatus = rs713598,TAS2R38,chr7,141973545,C,A,G,T,26,0,Normal
rsStatus = rs1726866,TAS2R38,chr7,141972905,G,A,,,28,19,HET
rsStatus = rs10246939,TAS2R38,chr7,141972804,T,C,,,19,18,HET
