The endocrinology of taste receptors

In contemporary society, the ready availability of calorie-dense, highly palatable foods has contributed to the global obesity epidemic. Individuals with obesity often consume an excess of food, despite knowledge of the associated adverse consequences. In this Review, Santa-Cruz Calvo and Egan explore the physiology of taste perception with regard to taste receptors, neuronal signalling and hormonal control of food intake. Levels of obesity have reached epidemic proportions on a global scale, which has led to considerable increases in health problems and increased risk of several diseases, including cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, cancer and diabetes mellitus. People with obesity consume more food than is needed to maintain an ideal body weight, despite the discrimination that accompanies being overweight and the wealth of available information that overconsumption is detrimental to health. The relationship between energy expenditure and energy intake throughout an individual's lifetime is far more complicated than previously thought. An improved comprehension of the relationships between taste, palatability, taste receptors and hedonic responses to food might lead to increased understanding of the biological underpinnings of energy acquisition, as well as why humans sometimes eat more than is needed and more than we know is healthy. This Review discusses the role of taste receptors in the tongue, gut, pancreas and brain and their hormonal involvement in taste perception, as well as the relationship between taste perception, overeating and the development of obesity.