酸甜鹹苦鮮 舌頭還有“第六感”？
If you cannot resist a stodgy cake or chips, it may not be simply down to lack of willpower.
如果你無法抵制油膩的蛋糕或是薯條的誘惑，那可不僅僅是因爲缺乏意志力。
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.
我們中有一些人對脂肪有味覺第六感。而沒有脂肪味覺的其他人，就會容易受到影響造成體重增加。
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.
長期以來人們認爲舌頭可以識別四種基本味覺元素：甜酸鹹苦，後來我們我們又發現了第五種味覺：鮮味。
Now scientists believe a genetic variant can make some people far more sensitive to fat molecules than others.
現在科學家們認爲，因爲基因變異，會是有些人對脂肪分子比其他人更敏感。
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.
到目前爲止，人們的普通觀點認爲，想吃油膩的食物跟感官系統有關，有許多人就是沉迷於油膩食物的味道和質感。
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.
華盛頓大學醫學院的研究者發現，肥胖人羣對油膩食物的渴望可能跟他們體內的一種叫CD36的受體蛋白質的指數有關。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.
CD36受體指數越高，對油膩食物的識別能力就越好，也就不太可能暴飲暴食高脂肪的油膩食物。研究者要求31名超重人士品嚐三杯溶液然後指出哪一杯不同。其中一杯含有少量的脂肪油，其他兩杯則不含。
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.
體內含有最多CD36受體的實驗參與者，對脂肪的敏感度要比其他只有一半CD36的參與者高8倍。
Researcher Professor Nada Abumrad said the finding could help treat obesity by finding a way to increase sensitivity to it.
實驗的研究者、Nada Abumrad教授表示，這一發現可以通過提高對脂肪的敏感程度來治療肥胖症。
‘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.
她表示：“在未來我們需要確定，是否是我們對食物中脂肪的識別能力影響着我們的脂肪攝入，而脂肪攝入量則會影響肥胖症。”
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.
研究者對《脂肪研究期刊》表示，人們攝入的脂肪越多，就可能越來越需要滿足他們的食慾。
小編碎碎念：弱弱的說一句，我一直以爲舌頭的5大基本味覺是酸甜苦辣鹹，竟然是酸甜鹹苦鮮？oh no，偶的世界觀被顛覆了...
