Grit City Think&Drink kicks off first event of 2018

Are you a supertaster, nontaster or somewhere in the middle? Are you someone who can drink black coffee or super hoppy IPAs with ease, or are you someone who prefers sweeter tastes? Did you know those bumps on your tongue aren’t your taste buds? If you were at this month’s Grit City Think&Drink, then you remember what I’m talking about. If not, then you missed out.

Grit City Think&Drink events are a series of monthly interactive lectures and seminars held on the second Tues­day of every month at 6:30 p.m. at The Swiss Pub, free and open to all ages. During the first 2018 Grit City Think&Drink Jan. 9, the pub was packed with community members, faculty and students as each attendee sipped merrily and engaged in this month’s riveting seminar.

Leighann Chaffee, a professor in UW Tacoma’s psychology department, cracked open the complexities and leading issues surrounding flavor per­ception and what drives people to consume the different foods and bev­erages they do. Chaffee explained the many components that affect food choices and how our decisions are much more complex than our sense of taste alone.

Members of the crowd were ac­tively engaged as they partook in a Propylthiouracil test, which allowed them to better understand what kind of taster they are and how that may affect their dietary choices and health.

”This event was surprisingly in­teractive and I learned more about my genetics than I ever thought I would at a bar,” said Dillan Henshaw, a UWT student.

While yes, it is interesting to learn about why we all have a universal love for sweets or why some people have fewer taste buds than others, there is a very practical and serious applica­tion of this knowledge as well.

Chaffee explained that the motiva­tion and interest in this topic “comes from the fact that we have this obe­sity epidemic that’s widely document­ed but we really fail to abate it.”

She also sees that a huge contribut­ing factor to obesity is related to taste and sweetness.

“Individuals who have obesity re­lated health disorders do experience a reduced intensity of sweetness than individuals without obesity related disorders,” Chaffee said.

Chaffee went on to say that when a “nontaster eats something that is indulgent, they aren’t getting as much out of it” when compared to super­tasters and people who fall in the middle. Ultimately, by looking through a psychological lens at this issue, it provides further insight into how to better reduce rates of obesity.

The next Grit City Think&Drink event is Feb. 13 where UWT American Studies professor Ingrid Walker will discuss alcohol and drug use in U.S. popular culture. Come on down to the Swiss Pub and grab a beverage or ap­petizer while learning a thing or two from a variety of UWT faculty!