No sweet taste in the "Cracker Test"

[Annb]

I tried the "cracker test" today and found that there was no sweet taste at all. This, apparently, means that I am bad at handling carbs. Does this mean that I was always pre-disposed to T2 diabetes?

 

[Antje77]

Does this test have a scientific base?

 

[slip]

it's to do with the amount of amylase you have in your mouth that helps break down complex sugars before it gets to your stomach/gut. The quicker the cracker starts to taste sweet the more amylase you produce and therefore it's deemed you're more able to handle more carbs - apparently.

 

[porl69]

Crackers just taste like cardboard until there is cheese on them. Never noticed if they taste sweet! And I eat loads of carbs

 

[Guzzler]

it's to do with the amount of amylase you have in your mouth that helps break down complex sugars before it gets to your stomach/gut. The quicker the cracker starts to taste sweet the more amylase you produce and therefore it's deemed you're more able to handle more carbs - apparently.

I saw this experiment on a Royal Institute lecture. Some people produce, as you say,, more amylase than others.

As to a genetic predisposition or an epigenetic cause the jury is still out on those theories.

 

[LittleGreyCat]

If you break the carbohydrates down quickly, doesn't that just mean that your food effectively has a higher GI?

 

[slip]

If you break the carbohydrates down quickly, doesn't that just mean that your food effectively has a higher GI?

yes and no! the Glycaemic index is the time taken for the carbs to have an effect on your BG from time of consumption not time of swallowing and it is only a guide - one persons GI of 80 food might take 10 mins and anothers 5mins because of the different quantities of amylase each have. Or put it this food has got to pass through your mouth whether it's a GI of 10 or 100 it has to go through the same process anyway.

 

[LindsayJane]

I tried the "cracker test" today and found that there was no sweet taste at all. This, apparently, means that I am bad at handling carbs. Does this mean that I was always pre-disposed to T2 diabetes?

Cracker test? What is it - I want to do it!!

 

[Annb]

Dr Xand van Tulleken showed the experiment on a TV documentary about weight loss and mentioned T2. He said that he had no sensation of sweetness when chewing on a dry cracker and that this was a problem for him. But he didn't say what the problem was. Or, if he did, I missed it. I tried the test anyway and found that I developed absolutely no sweet taste, but now, although I understand that it indicates that I don't have the enzyme amylase in my saliva, I don't know what that means in terms of digesting carbs/diabetes. I would have thought that having amylase to break down carbs into sugars early in the process would make you much more likely to have a carb overload and diabetes. That's what I don't understand.

 

[Annb]

Cracker test? What is it - I want to do it!!

The cracker test involves chewing a plain, unsweetened cracker for 30 seconds to see how much sweetness develops in that time. If a sweet taste develops in the 30 seconds, presumably you can handle carbs better than if no sweetness develops - because of the level of amylase in your saliva. But in dietery/health terms, I have no idea what that means.

I seem to have no, or little, amylase, according to this test and, strangely enough, have never like very sweet tastes - don't know if that has anything to do with it. Savoury and starchy has been my downfall, I think.

 

[LindsayJane]

The cracker test involves chewing a plain, unsweetened cracker for 30 seconds to see how much sweetness develops in that time. If a sweet taste develops in the 30 seconds, presumably you can handle carbs better than if no sweetness develops - because of the level of amylase in your saliva. But in dietery/health terms, I have no idea what that means.

I seem to have no, or little, amylase, according to this test and, strangely enough, have never like very sweet tastes - don't know if that has anything to do with it. Savoury and starchy has been my downfall, I think.

That makes sense - thanks for the explanation.

 

[Juicetin]

I also did the cracker test recently, guess what, absolutely no sweetness at all. Chewed and chewed until my jaw cramped.
My wife also did it and after about 10 seconds she said it turned all sweet in her mouth.

 

[Annb]

I also did the cracker test recently, guess what, absolutely no sweetness at all. Chewed and chewed until my jaw cramped.
My wife also did it and after about 10 seconds she said it turned all sweet in her mouth.

Interesting! Perhaps you will have to make extra efforts to make sure you reverse that prediabetes diagnosis - assuming that is what the result of this test means. Wish I'd even had an inkling of this years and years ago. I'd have been a lot more careful with my diet. Still, I don't know if even that would have helped with gestational diabetes. Might have. Can't remember that far back now (52 years), but I think there was a lot of savoury starch in it.

 

[Guzzler]

A possible add on to this conversation is my experience (and I know some others have seen the same) after being on low carb for just a few weeks my palate changed. I wish I had done the cracker test before and after! I can now taste even the smallest amount of sweetness in foods and drinks that previous to LCHF would definitely have tasted quite bland.

 

[Annb]

A possible add on to this conversation is my experience (and I know some others have seen the same) after being on low carb for just a few weeks my palate changed. I wish I had done the cracker test before and after! I can now taste even the smallest amount of sweetness in foods and drinks that previous to LCHF would definitely have tasted quite bland.

I've been low carbing for quite a while, with no obvious results either in weight or BG. Actually, that isn't true - I had a spell in hospital last weekend where there was nothing available but carb-rich stuff. My reaction to that was for my BS readings to shoot up and stay up, even more than it has been doing recently. Might have been something to do with the shingles vaccination I had a week pr so back.

 

[res1492]

Cracker test? What is it - I want to do it!!

I tried it earlier, just out to buy another pack of crackers...i couldn't make my mind up and before I knew it id ate 16 of the little buggers, half a block of cheese and washed it all down with 3 quarters of a bottle of wine.....can someone explain the rules again, please??


What do u mean "Just one bite"...but..but..

 

[Glucobabu]

Crackers just taste like cardboard until there is cheese on them. Never noticed if they taste sweet! And I eat loads of carbs

You are indeed brave to admit eating loads of carbs.....in this age of low carb high fat mantra!