Saturday, September 12, 2026

More than

 I learnt this from my grandson the youngest fellow in our family. Amazing told me three facts of which this was interesting.

on average, women tend to have more taste buds than men, particularly more of the taste-bud-containing structures called fungiform papillae on the tongue.

But there are important qualifications:

Women are somewhat more likely to be “supertasters”—people who perceive certain tastes, especially bitterness, much more intensely.

This is partly influenced by genetics, particularly variations in taste-receptor genes.

The difference isn't absolute. Some men have very high taste sensitivity and some women have relatively low sensitivity.

Taste is also strongly affected by smell, so what we call “taste” is actually a combination of taste and olfaction.

Taste sensitivity can change with age, illness, medications and other factors.

So the popular statement “girls have more taste buds than boys” has some scientific basis, but it is an average difference rather than a rule.

And there is a fascinating consequence: supertaster children may find vegetables such as broccoli, bitter gourd or certain greens much more bitter than other people do.

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