Mapping sweetness preference across the lifespan for culturally different societies: unlike most western societies, Hadza and Tsimane’ show no decline in sweet preference with age; may be related to high energy expenditure

Mapping sweetness preference across the lifespan for culturally different societies. Robert Pellegrino et al. Journal of Environmental Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.07.012

Highlights
•    Both Hadza and Tsimane’ societies liked sweetness more than the Polish society, with Hadza having the highest preference for sweets.
•    Unlike most western societies, Hadza and Tsimane’ show no decline in sweet preference with age.
•    Sweet taste preferences may be related to high energy expenditure that is maintained throughout the lifetime of some non-western societies or highly sweet foods (e.g. honey) as the main energy replenishment source.

Abstract: The preference of sweetened foods can be influenced by a variety of biological, psychological, sociological, and environmental factors. In this study, we focused on differences across three distinct societies: 1) a modern society (i.e., Polish people, n=199), 2) forager-horticulturalists from Amazon/Bolivia (Tsimane', n=138), and 3) traditional hunter-gatherers from Tanzania (Hadza, n=81). To measure sweet preference, participants were asked to drink three cups containing slightly acidic solutions (pH = 2.79) varying in sucrose concentration (w/v; 0%, 25%, 67%). Only 6% of the Polish participants chose the sweetest cup as their favorite, while this cup was chosen by 76% of the Hadza and 53% of the Tsimane’ participants. Further, age was a inversely related to sweet preference for Polish participants; however, age did not predict preferences for both Tsimane’ and Hadza tribes. We discuss our findings in the context of environmental and cultural differences between the participating populations.