Researchers find bitter taste receptors on human hearts
- afolckomer
- May 29, 2015
- 2 min read
Let's just talk about how exciting this is. Thousands of years ago in China, classic texts suggest that the "bitter" quality found in nature are attributed to the Heart. In Five Element Theory, certain organs correspond with specific qualities. For example, the Heart relates to bitter flavors, the Lungs related to Acrid or Spicy, the Spleen correspond to Sweet, the Liver Sour and the Kidneys Salty. In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) we use this information as diagnostic clues to help guide our approach and determine treatment plans. Perhaps this patient craves bitter greens or black coffee, has trouble sleeping, vivid dreaming, and anxiety. Or maybe they have experience Adrenal Fatigue and are craving salty. These ideas are not neccesarily related in Western Medicine, but are considered completely congruent in TCM.
For those that study TCM, there is a lot of foundational knowledge and theory that we just have to accept as we attempt to shift our western brains to be in alignment with this paradigm and way of thinking. These can be incredibly tricky concepts for some people, especially in this society that is fueled by Evidence Based Information and quantitative data. Too often, the answer "Just because" is the response given by TCM Practitioners when ancient statements such as, "Bitter tastes are attributed to the heart" are questioned. Well here is the confirming research folks. How could this have possibly been known thousands of years ago and then only confirmed in 2015 with our advanced technologies? Must be on to something here.
In TCM, the bitter flavor belongs to the Heart and now it does in Western Medicine as well :)
Here is the link to the research:
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