How strongly you taste specific foods

Many factors influence food preferences, including age, parental feeding practices, and society and culture. They are also influenced by genes. Not only can genetic make-up predict food preferences and tolerances, but it can also predict the perceived intensity and taste of things like sugar, salt, and bitter flavors.

Genetics, in fact, accounts for up to 30% of the variation in how people perceive sweetness. There is a gene variant that causes people to consume more sodium than people who do not have the variant and another that causes people to be unable to taste bitter substances. There is even a gene variant that influences our sensitivity to the flavor of fat. While knowing how you experience different tastes may not be the most important thing to learn about your health, it may be useful if you want to limit your salt intake. It's also interesting to learn about your own body.