John Hayes

In 1932, plant geneticist Albert Blakeslee and DuPont chemist Arthur Fox determined that taste acuity was a Mendelian trait that differed from person to person, like hair and eye color. Knowing that, food science professor John Hayes at Penn State, wanted to know why some people can follow a low salt diet more readily than those who cannot.  What he found was that “supertasters” (with greater taste sensitivity) need more salt to block the unpleasant sensation of bitterness from foods such as ripe cheese.  Less sensitive tasters need more salt to reach saltiness than do the supertasters.  Both examples illustrate why Americans over-consume dietary salt resulting in salt sensitive hypertension and related diseases-its in their genes.             MORE

Image Credit:  Penn State