taste test

So apparently, accord to a message board post wherein a woman whines because her child will only eat chicken soup, mac and cheese, and ramen, there are different types of tasters. 1 in 4 people is a Supertaster, which means that they have too many taste buds - chili tastes hotter than for the average person, and sugar sweeter. These people, most likely women or people from Asia, Africa and South America, won't eat vegetables because they taste more bitter, for example. Therefore they also have problems with coffee, cabbage/kale/spinach, grapefruit, alcohol, soy, or anything carbonated. Apparently because of the lack of vegetables in the diet, supertasters have a higher chance of colon cancer.

On the other hand, nontasters have too few tastebuds and therefore prefer very spicy or sweet food. Therefore they are more likely to have heart problems or be obese. On top of that, alcoholics are more likely to be nontasters because they don't taste all the nuances of the beverage as a supertaster would.

To add to that, children taste more than adults do, which explains why they are so fussy. And, of course, if you're a smoker then your taste buds are even more dulled than usual, and as you age your tastebuds get less sensitive. However, the more you are exposed to something, the more you like it.

Supposedly 25% of the population are supertasters, 25% nontasters and 50% average/medium tasters. I think I'm probably a medium taster.... I don't love spicy things but I don't mind them, and I can drink alcohol and coffee. I like sweet and salty things (which could maybe make me more of a nontaster since I like to taste just eat salt and sugar). However, and this is apparently semi-common, I am mildly allergic to basil and cilantro. Anything that has them in it (tomato sauce, pizza, most Mexican food) tastes like soap and makes my throat close up. Cilantro is coriander leaves (I don't know if I've ever had coriander), which is part of the parsley family (which is a pretty non-descript herb but I don't really like the way it tastes either). Oddly enough, basil is used in many herbal medications as an allergen relief product. AND in another bizarre turn of events, basil is part of the mint family, which is something that I love (maybe because I associate mint with sweet, like in candy and gum?).

You can do a test to see what you are, as well:
All you need to perform this test is blue food coloring, cotton swabs, notebook paper hole reinforcements, and a magnifying glass. After swabbing the tip of the tongue with food coloring, place a reinforcement ring there and count the number of raised pink dots (papillae) within the ring. Fewer than 15 papillae mean you are an insensitive "non-taster", between 15 and 35 indicates an average "taster" and over 35 papillae then you are a "super-taster".
I think my tongue is just fucked up.