Dr. Jeffrey GladdenFounder & CEO of Gladden Longevity

Bitter Taste Receptors Suppressing Appetite

13 May 2026 · 1 min

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In this segment, the speaker outlines a hypothesis that bitter taste receptors, traditionally known to reside on the tongue, are also distributed throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract—from the stomach to the upper colon. By analyzing 300 human GI biopsies, the study identified approximately 25 distinct bitter receptors along this tract, each present at varying intensities. When these receptors are activated by bitter compounds in the upper GI, they trigger the release of appetite‑suppressing hormones, which signal the brain to cease eating. This mechanism is presented as a secondary protective response to prevent ingestion of potentially toxic substances.

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And if you put it on your tongue, you'll spit it out. If it goes to your stomach, you'll usually vomit it out or you'll feel nauseous, so you won't carry on eating. But if it gets to your upper gastrointestinal tract, it will stimulate the release of your appetite-suppressing hormones, which will tell the brain to stop eating. And this was a very secondary protective mechanism. So this was their hypothesis. So they took 300 human biopsies right down from the gastrointestinal tract and showed that we had not only these 25 bitter taste receptors on our tongue, but we have them right down through our gastrointestinal tract. And they, and they different intensities, but they do go down from the stomach right down to the upper colon. Uh, and when stimulated, these release different hormones. Great.