Introduction

Although most US adults drink alcoholic beverages, little is known about the association between drinking and taste. We hypothesized that the ability to distinguish differing intensities of bitter and salt solutions would be poorer among drinkers than nondrinkers.

Methods

We used cross-sectional data from 4990 participants aged 40+ from a large, national survey of the US population (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2012–2014). The validated generalized Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS) was used to rate participants’ perception of the intensities of a series of bitter (1 mM quinine) and salt (0.32 M and 1 M NaCl) solutions. Statistical analyses, weighted to produce nationally representative estimates, were adjusted for factors including race/ethnicity, education, marital status, income, body mass index (BMI), smoking, physical activity, self-reported health status, diabetes, depression, and use of medications known to affect taste.

Results

In adjusted analyses, ability to distinguish intensity of a salt solution (0.32 M) was poorer among older (aged 60+) female current drinkers than their nondrinking counterparts (p = 0.001). Ability was also poorer among drinkers who consumed wine in the past 24 h compared to drinkers who consumed no alcohol during that time (p = 0.016). Ability to distinguish different intensities of the bitter solution was poorer among more frequent wine consumers (p = 0.034).

Conclusions

We found few significant associations. However, the result for older women is potentially interesting given recent increases in drinking within that population.

Implications

Taste is a novel consideration in research on alcohol consumption. We encourage further exploration in this area.

中文翻译：

---

酒和味觉强度

介绍

尽管大多数美国成年人都喝含酒精的饮料，但关于饮酒与味道之间的关系知之甚少。我们假设饮酒者与非饮酒者区别苦味和盐溶液强度不同的能力较差。

方法

我们使用了来自4990位年龄在40岁以上的参与者的横截面数据，这些数据来自于一项针对美国人口的大型全国性调查（国家健康与营养检查调查，2012-2014年）。经过验证的广义标记量表（gLMS）用于评估参与者对一系列苦味（1 mM奎宁）和盐（0.32 M和1 M NaCl）溶液强度的看法。对统计分析进行加权，以产生全国代表性的估计值，并对种族/民族，教育，婚姻状况，收入，体重指数（BMI），吸烟，体育锻炼，自我报告的健康状况，糖尿病，抑郁和使用等因素进行调整已知会影响口味的药物。

结果

在调整后的分析中，年龄较大（年龄在60岁以上）的女性现役饮者与非饮酒者相比，分辨盐溶液强度（0.32 M）的能力较差（p  = 0.001）。与在此期间未饮酒的饮酒者相比，在过去24小时内饮酒的饮酒者的能力也较差（p  = 0.016）。在更频繁的葡萄酒消费者中，区分苦味溶液不同强度的能力较差（p  = 0.034）。

结论

我们发现很少有重要的关联。但是，鉴于最近该人群中饮酒的增加，老年妇女的结果可能很有趣。

含义

口味是酒精消费研究中的一个新颖考量。我们鼓励在这一领域进行进一步的探索。