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Health - Reuters

After Menopause, Sugar Doesn't Taste as Sweet

LONDON (Reuters Health) - It's another bitter consequence of aging. Turkish researchers have found that some postmenopausal women lose their ability to taste sweet foods.

The scientists reported on Thursday that the hormonal changes during menopause seem to lower the ability of the palate to sense sugar, prompting some women to change their eating habits in favor of sweeter food.

Dr. Cagri Delilbasi, now at Osaka University, and colleagues conducted taste tests on 20 postmenopausal women at Ankara University and compared the results to 20 men of similar age.

They report in the British Dental Journal that the women had a significantly lower sensitivity to sucrose (sugar) on their palate. There was no difference between the groups for salt, sour or bitter tastes, and no changes in taste sensations on the tongue.

The researchers also asked the women if they'd noticed a change in their overall taste perception after menopause. Only 35 percent of the women reported that they had noticed a change, but 45 percent said their diets had changed, including a preference for sweeter food.

"The decline in sensitivity to sucrose is consistent with the altered diet reported by the female patients," the researchers write. "This finding is interesting as no previous report about failure of sucrose perception, and thus preference for sweeter food in menopausal women could be found."

What causes the change is hard to explain, the researchers write, and more research is needed.

"The crucial issue to be aware of is that the possible changes due to menopause can lead to more serious health problems, although these changes may not be uncomfortable to the patient."

Women who cannot taste sweet things might sweeten their foods, with potentially serious consequences for diseases like obesity, heart disease and diabetes they say.

SOURCE: British Dental Journal 2003;194:447-449.