You can change your taste in food
— February 20, 2023 —
Do you remember as a child taking a sip of your parent’s coffee and spitting it out in disgust? You probably declared, “ewwwww, gross, I’ll never drink that!” Yet here you are today ordering a double espresso at your local Starbucks.
What happened? Your taste changed. Children are generally more sensitive to bitter tastes, so chances are it was too strong. Coupled with that bad experience, you probably avoided coffee most of your young life. Then one day you needed a pick-me-up and a coffee got you through a rough morning, so you tried it again and again. Now, your taste buds are less sensitive to bitter, you have a positive experience to associate with coffee, and the repetition makes you like it even more. You’re a coffee drinker!
I’m sure there are lots of things you didn’t like as a child, that you like now, or may like if given the chance. We all can change our taste in food. In fact, in many instances it’s already happened without any effort. Taste buds become less sensitive as we age, and they regenerate every 10 days, so they are constantly changing. If you previously didn’t love vegetables or whole grains, and want to start adding them to your diet, here are some easy steps to help:
Forget your old preferences. I know it can be hard, but if you think you don’t like something, you’ll have a block to eating it. Change your thoughts around the new item you want to incorporate into your diet. You can focus on its nutritional value, bright colors or even repeat a mantra such as, “I didn’t like X in the past, but I’ve changed and I’m excited to try it again.”
Decrease salt, sugar, and fat in your diet. They can dull your taste buds, making foods low in salt, sugar, and fat, tasteless or not as good. While you’re trying to shift your taste to healthier foods, try to eat less or eliminate them.
Gradually incorporate new foods into your diet by starting with a small amount. This will allow your taste buds to adjust to the new flavors without overwhelming them.
Mix new foods with familiar ones so that it’s not all different. For example, if you’re trying quinoa for the first time, mix it with tastes you already like such as tomatoes, mushrooms or even raisins. This will bring in some familiarity and get you halfway there.
Keep trying it. Repetition not only makes a food more familiar, but repeated exposure to bitter foods changes a protein in the saliva that calms the initial distaste for bitterness.
Foods can be prepared a variety of ways—you may not love steamed broccoli right off the bat, but if you sauté it with garlic and olive oil it may have a warmer, spicier flavor that you’ll enjoy.
Add seasonings. If you have a favorite spice or sauce, toss it on to your new vegetables—chimichurri sauce or red pepper flakes liven everything up.
Give it time. You’ve been eating the same way for a while. Your tastes are not going to change overnight, but repeated exposure will shift your palette.
When I was a kid, I didn’t like salad. I hated cutting the lettuce, thought tomatoes were slimy, didn’t like onions, and forget about vinegar! Today I love salad, I’m not even sure how it happened. I think I just started eating it in my twenties because that’s what “adults” did. I discovered different types of lettuce, only eat tomatoes in season, and discovered all kinds of great vinegars. I still don’t like raw onions, but if they’re pickled or sautéed, I’m game. I can’t imagine not having salad as part of my diet.
Let me know how it’s going and what tips work for you. LAURA@IGNITEWITHLAURA.COM