酸甜咸苦鲜 舌头还有“第六感”？

If you cannot resist a stodgy cake or chips, it may not be simply down to lack of willpower.
如果你无法抵制油腻的蛋糕或是薯条的诱惑，那可不仅仅是因为缺乏意志力。

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.
我们中有一些人对脂肪有味觉第六感。而没有脂肪味觉的其他人，就会容易受到影响造成体重增加。

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.
长期以来人们认为舌头可以识别四种基本味觉元素：甜酸咸苦，后来我们我们又发现了第五种味觉：鲜味。

Now scientists believe a genetic variant can make some people far more sensitive to fat molecules than others.
现在科学家们认为，因为基因变异，会是有些人对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.
到目前为止，人们的普通观点认为，想吃油腻的食物跟感官系统有关，有许多人就是沉迷于油腻食物的味道和质感。

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.
华盛顿大学医学院的研究者发现，肥胖人群对油腻食物的渴望可能跟他们体内的一种叫CD36的受体蛋白质的指数有关。