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Every living thing must solve an equation. How much nitrogen to eat, how much sodium, how much phosphorus, etc. The body solves that equation by taste and flavor -- by making living things crave what they need. Our appetites are linked to nutritional requirements.\xa0Taste: The Flavor of Life, a new docuseries on\xa0Curiosity Stream, explores the world of taste and how deliciousness unites us with the rest of animals in surprising ways.

For example -- Organisms need salt for their cells to function properly. If a food has salt, the taste receptor sends a signal to the brain, creating pleasure. The umami taste receptor rewards animals for finding nitrogen, an element that\u2019s essential for building proteins and genes.\xa0Sweet taste receptors encourage animals to find foods with enough sugar to fuel their daily activity.\xa0Taste: The Flavor of Life\xa0traces the impact of taste from animals\u2019 first steps on land to top Michelin star restaurants!

Taste: The Flavor of Life\xa0comes from biologist\xa0Rob Dunn\xa0and is inspired by his book\xa0Delicious \u2013 The Evolution of Flavor and How It Made Us Human\xa0(co-written by Monica Sanchez). A Professor at NC State University, Rob leads the Public Science Lab, a group of scholars from diverse disciplines who work to make new discoveries about daily life. His research has been awarded more than ten million dollars in grants from more than twelve different sources for work in 20 different countries. An avid writer, Rob has published many articles in\xa0National Geographic,\xa0the New York Times,\xa0the Wall Street Journal\xa0among many others, as well as seven books including\xa0The Wild Life of Our Bodies\xa0and\xa0A Natural History of the Future.

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