title: Calcium taste preference and sensitivity in humans. I. Gender comparisons.
abstract: Calcium is an essential nutrient, particularly during growth and during reproduction, and the latter is probably why the avidity for calcium may be greater in females of some species. However, in humans, despite widespread belief in calcium appetite, it has not been studied experimentally. Here we compared the hedonic responses of 17 men and 24 women to test whether women show a greater avidity for calcium in line with its greater biological significance for them. We find no gender difference in the hedonic response to calcium, and no change with the menstrual cycle.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department and Brain and Behavior Center, University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel. micah.Leshem@psy.haifa.ac.il
authors.forename: Micah
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leshem
authors.forename: Tamy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katz-Levin
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schulkin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002118:Calcium; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005518:Food Preferences / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium