I have good taste…in my buds that is. I should say my taste buds seem to have changed in the last year. Foods I loved a year ago just, well, taste different today. I went for that pizza last week and with anticipation to bite into my only slice and…that was all.
“It’s Mother Nature happening at its best,” says Liz Stokvis, a Certified Nutrition and Health Coach based in Montreal.
“Eating healthy organic whole foods is indeed organic to our species,” says Stokvis. “Once individuals are able to successfully grab a steady hold of what I call the “nutrient ladder” and begin working toward healthier options they begin to feel the steady flow of energy and clarity of mind that are intimately linked. With that in mind, our taste buds begin to change.”
It is estimated that adults have between 2,000 and 10,000 taste buds. The more taste buds you have, the more you can taste a variety of flavours. People with over 10,000 taste buds are considered “supertasters” or deeper tasters.
“The key is to make the food choice changes fun and easy,” Stokvis continues, “and going with the natural flow of our lifestyle and not forcing things too much. Otherwise, we shock our body’s system, which is never a good thing since we’re hardwired to move toward a state of balance or homeostasis.”
Intriguingly, there is a phenomenon developing in the world of bariatric surgery linking taste bud changes to new eating habits.
People who underwent the surgery reported they seemed to taste food differently, leading doctors and researchers to examine this phenomenon. One study measured how well bariatric surgery patients could identify the five tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami (savory taste), both before and after surgery. The results showed that taste perceptions could change with weight loss.
Interestingly enough, my childhood aversion to onions was different than my brother’s love of onions. As a teenager, he could eat a whole onion as if one would eat an apple. Got me thinking about the hours I sat at the dinner table because my parents wanted me to eat everything on my plate, including those onions.
How can my parents eat those same foods? The answer might be that I have been eating onions for the last 20-years, albeit not like I would eat an apple. So our taste buds may change over time, allowing us to like foods that we never liked in the past?
Maybe! Scientists know that taste buds do wear out over time. As we become adults and grow older, taste buds start to disappear from the sides and roof of the mouth. This may result in duller taste sensation as we get older.
We still have good taste!
