title: Impact of bitter taste on gastric motility.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Unexplained nausea and vomiting is often associated with delayed gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia. We hypothesized that the experience of an unpleasant, nauseating taste could lead to a delay in gastric emptying.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixteen healthy women consumed a bland liquid test meal on three separate study days. On two of the study days subjects sham fed either a bitter tasting, modified Slim-Fast bar or one with a pleasant strawberry flavour. The time for 50% gastric emptying (GE(50)) was non-invasively assessed by electrical impedance tomography and antral motility by electrogastrography (EGG).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gastric emptying was significantly delayed by sham feeding the bitter compared with the pleasant bar, GE(50) 24.7+/-3.9 versus 17.2+/-1.8 min, P<0.05. EGG power rose significantly during both the pleasant (basal 1.46+/-0.07 to 2.33+/-0.14 log(10) microV(2)/min, P=0.000) and the bitter sham feed (basal 1.64+/-0.09 to 2.35+/-0.11 log(10) microV(2)/min, P=0.000).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An unpleasant bitter taste delays gastric emptying but does not significantly impair antral motility.
authors.affiliation: School of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wicks
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Pip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rayment
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spiller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011706:Pyloric Antrum / Q000502:physiology; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D014054:Tomography