Nothing is more subjective than taste. Why do many people not like Brussels sprouts and other bitter foods? Why is one disgusted by a dish, while the other greedily devours his meal and still licks his fingers? Can you get rid of aversion to a particular taste? Why does one go over his neck with a sauerkraut stew, while many lovers of the Dutch pot eagerly get rid of it? What is the reason that many kids don’t like Brussels sprouts?
Many lovers of sweet taste
In general, most people like and dislike the same things. Few people dislike sweetness. Flavors naturally have a function. They signal what we should and should not put in our mouths. Sweet foods are generally high in energy.
Many people dislike bitter flavors, because a bitter taste is often tied to poisonous plants. All basic flavors have their function in our food selection.
The creep of Brussels sprouts is in your DNA
But this does not yet explain the individual difference between the fanciers ?? and haters of Brussels sprouts. For the most part, these differences are not innate. Taste receptors work the same for everyone. There is only one exception: DNA determines that one person can handle bitter better than another. In 2003, TAS2-R38, the gene that is largely responsible for this, was discovered. One variant of this gene produces taste receptors that respond strongly to bitter, while the other variant does not show this reaction. Everyone has two variants of each gene in their body. Those who have twice the aversion to bitter variety react strongly to bitter food. When you have the other variant twice, there is no reaction to bitter foods. If you have both variants, you taste bitter but you react much less strongly to it.
People who dislike chicory and other bitterness can now come up with a legitimate excuse.
Between the ears
Is it our parents who are to blame? It is partly in your mind. The influence of labels on taste perception is present at a young age. Food with the names of major brand chains on the packaging is generally considered to be tastier than when this food is served in a blank packaging. In addition to labels, the price also influences the feeling of hunger.
In addition, there is the Pavlov effect: our brains associate food with previous experiences. That one steak tasted so good during that holiday with a beautiful sunset. You associate chicory with the time you almost went over your neck after dinner. One is conditioning oneself to find it dirty.
Learned young is done old
You develop your food preferences already in the womb. You are exposed to her diet in your mother’s womb. An unborn baby gets used to the flavors that the mother puts in her mouth, and not to foods that the mother does not eat. This process continues until after birth. From the age of four, preferences for certain foods hardly change. In young adults, this hardly seems to change in relation to their toddlerhood.
Eating dirty foods more often
“You have to eat what you don’t like, just eat ten times, then you like it.” So many (grand) mothers say. Is this advice correct? In a 2007 study at the Université de Bourgogne (France), researchers made mothers eat a pureed vegetable multiple times that the baby did not like on previous feeding attempts. The babies also received vegetables that they already liked. They ate more of the vegetables they liked. They ate more than half less of the vegetables they did not like. However, this difference became smaller every day. By day eight this difference had almost disappeared.
Does repeated dishing of dirty food also work in adults? According to researchers, this is difficult, but not deterministic. People keep changing their preferences throughout their lives.