Day 181 - Can memories actually influence Taste?

 

Continuing with the food like and dislike point.

As a kid I did not like broccoli. Another thing I did not like was spinach and it was also about the sugar point. No matter how tasty Pop ‘Eye made it look it was pretty nasty stuff for me since it was the opposite of sugar.

So why do we dislike and like different food? The human body is born with the same stuff for all of us. We have the same taste buds so what makes me like a food and another dislike the same food? One food sort I still so not like is Liver. Chicken liver is nasty stuff, but some people really like it. Liver is very nutritious, but taste horrible. The first time I heard of liver I linked it to my own liver – meaning it was weird to eat chicken liver, because I have liver. Never mind that I also have meat like a chicken – that did not bother me – but the word liver was gross and so the food was gross.

If I was born in a village in some forest I would probably like eating some insects, because that is what I am used to. It would seem that food taste pretty much the same to all of us, but location, memories, ideas and believes have made us like and dislike a particular taste. It is very fascinating, because a belief we have created that this food type is gross will actually make some get nauseous and throw up. It is all simply and idea created. Some food the body actually does react to though like those with gluten allergy or lactose intolerant.

Sugar is like magic – add it in things and people like and buy it. Along with gluten most things in a grocery store has sugar in it. Why? Because then it taste good and people buy it and the company makes money. They get us used to sweet things from childhood with those “its good for your kids” sugar laced cereal and then we get hooked on sugar and keep buy it till the day our bodies give out.

What would a grocery store look like if real studies were made on the effect of a particular product and they actually warn you about it on the box like they do with cigarettes? ON the coke can it will say – WARNING: HIGH SUGAR INTAKE MAY CAUSE DIABETES. What if all harmfull products were removed from the shelves? The store will stand pretty empty as most things can harm the body. Alas, they do not warn people. Not even on Alcohol. On Every can it should say – WARNING: ALCOHOL MOST DANGEROUS DRUG ON EARTH AND CAUSES MORE DEATH THAN ANY OTHER DRUG. Nope, instead they only warn about cigarettes.

DAY 180 - Why do we like and dislike certain foods?

 

Why do we like and dislike certain foods?

I  have recently been on a ridiculous diet for a few months regarding my thyroid’s hyper activity . I say ridiculous, because I could not eat any of the food I liked. It was very hard for me, but I did it. While I was on this diet I missed my usual foods  - like burgers, steak or the occasional take-aways and even corn.  What I missed most was coffee – it was not part of my diet. The food I could eat was not bad or anything – it was just very plain and not what I was used to.

I resumed eating normal again and noticed something very anti-climactic. I used to really like drinking coke, but had to stop drinking it since sugar and carbonated drinks were not part of the diet. So I had my first coke in a long time and I expected it to be very good, but it was not. It was too sweet and tasted like brown sugar water. I do not drink coke anymore. When I had my first burger the same thing happened. It was not as I imagined it to be – it was not bad or anything – simply a burger. My diet was excluding any processed foods as well as gluten, milk and many others so I ate whole foods. You have no idea how many items in the shops have gluten in them.

I am now at a stage where I no longer want any take-aways or coke which I really liked before going onto the diet. Coke had lost its magic for me – it no longer has a hold on me lol. No, it is more that going without sugar my body got used to/liked minimal sugar and coke is like a sugar overload.  Now I can feel that my body does not like so much sugar. My tastebuds activate with joy and pleasure with sugar – but the body says NO. The best was drinking coffee again - still do and its still good.

When I was a kid I did not like broccoli – it seems it is a kid thing not to like broccoli/veggies. It was obviously good for the body, but tasted horrible. If I look back now I would say sugar is to blame for this. I ate sweets and had kids cereal – kids cereal like “coco-pops” say “it is good for you” with all that added vitamins, but a bowl is like 30% sugar and I always added more sugar to the mix to make it taste real good. The sugar does more harm that the vitamins do good. So broccoli does not taste nearly as good as a bowl of sugar and thus I did not like broccoli. I do however eat it now.

Did you have a similar experience where sugar determined what you like and disliked? Would be interesting to go back and see exactly why you do not like a particular food – like broccoli.