Fat taste and lipid metabolism in humans

Dietary and body fat are essential for life. Fatty acids modulate fat detection, ingestion, digestion, absorption and elimination. Though direct effects occur throughout the body, much of this regulation stems from signals originating in the oral cavity. The predominant orosensory cue for dietary fat is textural, but accumulating electrophysiological, behavioral and clinical evidence supports olfactory and gustatory components. Orosensory stimulation with long-chain unsaturated, but possibly also saturated, fatty acids elicits an array of cephalic phase responses including release of gastric lipase, secretion of pancreatic digestive enzymes, mobilization of lipid stored in the intestine from the prior meal, pancreatic endocrine secretion and, probably indirectly, altered lipoprotein lipase activity. Combined, these processes influence postprandial lipemia. There is preliminary evidence of marked individual variability in fat “taste” with uncertain health implications. The possibility that fat taste sensitivity reflects systemic reactivity to fat warrants further evaluation.