Calcium taste preference and sensitivity in humans. II. Hemodialysis patients.

Calcium is an essential nutrient. However, in humans, despite widespread belief in a calcium appetite, it has hardly been studied experimentally. Here, we compared the avidity for calcium in 10 hemodialysis patients and 10 healthy controls to test whether disturbed calcium metabolism alters the preference for calcium. Hemodialysis patients did not differ from controls in their taste responses to CaCl(2) solution. However, they found high levels of CaCl(2) in cheese tastier. Our findings are indicative of a possible increased calcium appetite related to perturbed calcium metabolism in humans. The findings also suggest that for hemodialysis patients calcium added to foods might increase their palatability.