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：

---

酒精度和味道强度

介绍

尽管大多数美国成年人都喝酒精饮料，但人们对饮酒和口味之间的关系知之甚少。我们假设，饮酒者区分苦味溶液和盐溶液不同强度的能力比不饮酒者差。

方法

我们使用了一项针对美国人口的大型全国性调查（国家健康和营养检查调查，2012-2014 年）中 4990 名 40 岁以上参与者的横断面数据。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）溶液强度的感知。统计分析经过加权以得出具有全国代表性的估计值，并根据种族/民族、教育、婚姻状况、收入、体重指数（BMI）、吸烟、体力活动、自我报告的健康状况、糖尿病、抑郁症和使用等因素进行了调整已知影响味觉的药物。

结果

在调整分析中，目前饮酒的老年女性（60 岁以上）区分盐溶液强度（0.32 M）的能力比不饮酒的女性更差（p  = 0.001）。与在那段时间没有饮酒的饮酒者相比，在过去 24 小时内饮酒的饮酒者的能力也较差 ( p  = 0.016)。经常饮用葡萄酒的人区分苦味溶液不同强度的能力较差（p  = 0.034）。

结论

我们发现很少有显着的关联。然而，考虑到最近老年女性饮酒量有所增加，老年女性的结果可能很有趣。

影响

口味是酒精消费研究中的一个新的考虑因素。我们鼓励在这一领域进行进一步探索。