A new study carried out by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania (USA) has determined that the predisposition or inclination towards certain types of alcoholic beverages is determined not by bitter taste receptors but by genetics . The study has been published in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research .
According to the experts, small variations in the genome make us have a more intense perception of the bitter taste, which translates into a repulsion for certain alcoholic beverages such as beer.
“When people taste alcohol in the laboratory, the amount of bitterness they experience differs, which is related to the version of the receptor gene that each individual has ,” says John E. Hayes, co-author of the study, to the Sinc agency.
Despite everything, this genetic predisposition is not decisive either. Previous experience, learning and the environment also influence the consumption of beverages since, “with repeated exposure, some individuals can learn to enjoy a certain bitterness in their drinks and food, as occurs with dark chocolate or coffee. ”Says study leader alissa Nolden.
Regarding alcoholic beverages, the scientists observed that the heat receptor TPRV1 could also be involved in the preference for alcoholic beverages. To do this, they administered different alcohol solutions to 93 white volunteers who had different variations in the receptor genes under study. Because each person has a unique genotype and this is not assigned randomly, experts defend this theory but the results should be considered provisional until an experiment can be carried out with a larger sample size.
