If you've ever wondered why your taste in foods differs so much from others, scientists can now tell you why.

In the Women's Health office alone, the art director can't stand bananas, the online editor won't go anywhere near mayonnaise while the features assistant eats pretty much everything (in moderation).

Now scientists can more accurately explain why our tastes vary so much from one individual to another.

Just a few weeks ago U.S. researchers discovered why we like to combine sharp, acrid tastes with fatty flavours: a cooked breakfast with a pot of tea; steak with red wine; and cheese with pickle: the contrast between fatty and sharp, acrid tastes allows us to eat fatty foods more easily - astringent food and drink reduce saliva, drying the mouth and cancelling out the greasy feeling created by fatty ones.

This, in turn, creates a clean feeling.

"The way foods make our mouths feel has a great effect on what we choose to eat," says Professor Paul Breslin, an oral biologist at Rutger. "This natural tendency for seeking balance in our mouths might have benefits for maintaining a diversity of foods in our diet," he said.

He also said this may aid oral health because it aids in keep oral tissue healthy and prevents teeth wearing down.

Shahzada Ahmed, a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon at Queen Elizabeth Hospital and BMI The Priory Hospital, Birmingham said that taste plays a huge role in our enjoyment of life: it's an important but sometimes complicated sense, he said.

The reasons you hate some vegetables

According to this research, nearly 25% of us are what's known as supertasters. Supertasters have more tastebuds - more than 10,000 rather than the average 2,000 - and as a result they taste food far more intensely.

This is common in many chefs and wine tasters: they're able to differentiate flavour more readily than the rest of us.

But the flip-side of this is that you can be too sensitive for your own good. Nutrient-rich but bitter vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and Brussels sprouts can be unpalatable.

There's an easy test to determine if you're a supertaster or not:

Overweight? Blame detailed tastebuds

German researchers revealed last month that obese children have a less sensitive sense of taste than children of normal weight.

A study published in the Archives Of Disease In Childhood found that obese children found it significantly more difficult to tell one taste sensation from another, and to identify the taste correctly.

This dulled sense of taste, said Mr Ahmend, may mean that these children need increasing amounts of food and flavour to give them stimulation.

Ear infections can damage taste

Colds affect taste because 90 per cent of the flavour of food comes from our sense of smell. Therefore, if the nose is blocked, this is affected.

But ear infections, too, can cause problems. ‘Repeated middle ear infections such as glue ear can affect the ability to taste,’ says Mr Ahmed.

This is because ear infections can damage the taste nerve, he said.

‘This damage can intensify the sensation of the texture of fatty foods, and as a result these people may put on weight.’

Other illnesses linked to a loss of taste include Sjogren’s Syndrome, an underactive thyroid and liver disease and kidney failure.

Love fatty foods? Blame evolution

Scientists think they know why fatty food can be so deliciously irresistible: evolution.

University of California researchers discovered that when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing endocannabinoids — marijuana-like chemicals that give a natural high.

However, the study showed sugars and proteins do not have the same effect.

‘Fats are the ultimate energy source,’ says Carl Philpott, a consultant ear, nose and throat surgeon and rhinologist at James Paget University Hospital, Norfolk.

‘So when we needed to survive long, cold winters, that was the type of food we needed to stock up on.’

Train yourself to eat certain foods

The next time you're out for dinner with Miss Fussy McFussPants, get comfortable on your high horse when you inform her that you CAN train yourself to eat foods you don't like. As you suspected, it might just be all in her head.

Because a lot of the time it’s simply psychological, here are some tips to help you overcome your food phobias: