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What does ‘umami’ taste like – and why you should smell it every day

Umami is the basic feeling that our taste buds are tuned into. Read more about what it is, its importance, and what “spirits” feel like below: In an excerpt from a new book by popular blogger and health expert Dr Daniela Purgina gastrointestinal.

The gustatory sensory system is essential for survival: it is the mechanism for accepting or rejecting food. For example, if the product is too bitter or sour, you are unlikely to want to eat it because of its unpleasant taste. This is a reliable “gateway” that protects the digestive system from potentially dangerous and harmful substances and, conversely, stimulates the consumption of foods that taste good (for example, sweet or salty).

There are five basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty and umami. We are evolutionarily wired for a positive perception of sweet taste and umami (protein taste).

Let’s dwell a little more on the taste of umami. It was discovered in 1908 by Kikunae Ikeda, a professor of chemistry at Tokyo Imperial University. But scientists for a long time could not agree on whether to include it in the list of basic tastes. Finally, in 1985, the term “umami” was officially adopted by the scientific community to designate glutamates and nucleotides.

What does umami taste like? It is often described as having a rich “meaty” or “bubbly” flavor. In fact, it tastes like the sodium salt of glutamic acid, or, more simply, glutamate.

Glutamate is a vital amino acid for humans, which is part of the protein, and is also the most important mediator. With the help of glutamate release, neurons in the brain and spinal cord transmit key information flows related to vision, hearing, memory and movement.

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In 2002, researchers identified special L-glutamate receptors on the human tongue that are able to recognize umami tastes. Thus, glutamic acid for the human taste sensory system acts as a marker of a protein-rich food: if we taste umami, then the product contains protein and is good for us.

Kikunae Ikeda was able to obtain glutamic acid in the form of salt in 1909. Then the well-known food additive E621 appeared – monosodium glutamate, which is actively used by the modern food industry.

The researchers suggest that it is possible isolation of the sixth taste – the taste of fat. He even received the special name oleogustus. The receptor protein CD36, which binds fatty acids, is responsible for its perception. The data obtained during the experiments indicate that the ability to recognize the taste of fat is very heterogeneous.

The involvement of oleogustus in basic tastes still raises scientific questions and discussions, as the evidence that fat taste is easy to isolate and distinguish is still not convincing enough.

The more fat in the diet, the fuller a person feels. Fat intake is regulated by negative feedback on hunger cues or by acting as a hunger “brake” where initial fat intake slows subsequent intake until the person reaches the point of saturation and the meal is interrupted. It should be noted that the saturating power of fats decreases ifthey are found in foods of mixed composition, which does not detract from the importance of the role of lipids in energy regulation.

Source: The Voice Mag

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