The Impact of Exercise on Dietary Fat Taste Perception: A Report on Its Role in Obesity Prevention

Dietary fat taste, a distinct gustatory modality that greatly influences food choice and energy intake, is primarily mediated by the lingual receptors CD36 and GPR120. Recent studies show that both short-term and long-term physical activity can modulate sensitivity to long-chain fatty acids, which can lead to changes in dietary patterns and preferences for high-fat foods. This review specifically examines the effects of exercise on the perception of fat taste by integrating findings from human and animal studies that examine alterations in detection thresholds, suprathreshold intensity ratings, and hedonic responses to fatty stimuli. We explore mechanistic pathways by which exercise influences fat taste, such as changes in hormones that regulate appetite, systemic anti-inflammatory processes that may enhance or attenuate CD36/GPR120 signaling in taste bud cells, and neural adaptations within gustatory cortices. The implications of exercise-induced alterations in fat-taste acuity for appetite regulation, dietary behavior, and long-term metabolic health are discussed, with particular attention to how increased sensitivity may promote reduced consumption of energy-dense foods. Finally, we highlight significant gaps in human translational research regarding the magnitude and persistence of exercise-induced fat-taste plasticity and propose targeted future studies to employ fat-taste modulation as a cutting-edge strategy for obesity prevention and public health nutrition interventions.