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Nutrition & taste

What your genes say about food: caffeine, lactose, vitamins, omega-3 conversion, and why you crave what you crave.

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Nutrition & taste

The month-long experiment that took willpower off the table

Twenty people lived in a research ward while every meal was matched nutrient for nutrient. On the ultra-processed menu they ate 508 more calories a day without noticing. What that says about appetite.

August 28, 2026 · 4 min read
Nutrition & taste

Why you and your partner will never agree about dessert

Sweet tooth and fat cravings have a genetic layer: a liver hormone (FGF21), a sweet receptor (TAS1R2), and a fat sensor (CD36). Small effects, real science, and a truce for the dinner table.

August 25, 2026 · 2 min read
Nutrition & taste

Why the same coffee hits everyone differently

Dose, tolerance, sleep debt, age, smoking, and two genes: a tour of everything standing between your latte and how it actually feels.

August 20, 2026 · 3 min read
Nutrition & taste

Is a gene keeping you from losing weight? What FTO actually does

Body weight is heritable and the famous FTO variant is real. But in eight randomized trials, carriers lost just as much weight as everyone else.

August 12, 2026 · 3 min read
Nutrition & taste

Why you can (or can't) drink milk: the lactase switch

Digesting milk as an adult is the weird exception, not the rule, and it mostly comes down to one regulatory switch next to the lactase gene.

August 1, 2026 · 2 min read
Nutrition & taste

The alcohol flush is not an allergy. It is a traffic jam.

A red face after one drink means acetaldehyde is piling up faster than your enzymes can clear it. The genetics of the flush, and why it deserves respect.

July 30, 2026 · 2 min read
Nutrition & taste

The chia seed problem: why plant omega-3 works better for some people

Flax and chia give you ALA, but your body must convert it to EPA and DHA, and FADS gene variants shift how well that conversion runs. What the studies show and what to do if you eat little fish.

July 27, 2026 · 3 min read
Nutrition & taste

Some people just run lower on vitamin D. Genes are part of why.

Variants in the vitamin D transport and activation genes shift your baseline level. What that changes about testing and supplements, and what it doesn't.

July 22, 2026 · 2 min read
Nutrition & taste

Why broccoli is a different vegetable for you and your partner

One bitter receptor, three positions, and a century-old lab accident: the genetics of supertasters, and what your TAS2R38 haplotype changes at dinner.

July 7, 2026 · 2 min read
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