A Taste of Stupidity

Coop asked...

My question: Why do some foods taste good to some people and bad to others? Does the food taste the same and our bodies have different chemical reactions that make us like or dislike it? Or does the same food taste differently to different people? For example, if we both eat meatloaf, and I love it and you detest it (hypothetically, of course, because who doesn't love a good meatloaf), is it that your body produces repulsing chemicals and mine produces tasty chemicals, or do you taste something different than I taste?

14/10/05 12:58 PM

Stupid said…

Mmmmm… meatloaf…

We all taste the same thing, Coop. The difference is the respective strength of the flavor we perceive.

When babies are born, they have a fresh set of taste buds—brand new and totally active. They are very, VERY sensitive to flavors—and all we feed them is milk.

As the child grows, the taste buds on his or her tongue can become overused and burn out. So, for example, if you feed a child an excess of—I don’t know—meatloaf, the child will overwork the ‘meatloaf’ taste buds on the tongue. Then the child would need even MORE meatloaf or a stronger-flavored meatloaf the next time to get the same flavor benefit. Let’s not forget that food is a drug. And as a drug, you must make sure you don’t overdose the poor children. So ease up on the food, parents!

Let’s pretend now, that you feed a child plenty of licorice, but you DON’T feed that child any meatloaf. The ‘licorice’ taste buds for the child become desensitized and the child becomes so accustomed to the relatively week flavor of even the strongest licorice. In fact, the addicted child may falsely believe they NEED licorice—for confidence, for energy, for luck.

Then one fateful Sunday you take ‘em to grandma’s house. She has made a huge, beefy meatloaf for Sunday dinner and the kids are getting edgy and apprehensive about ingesting food that is not licorice. They may even start crying—I’ve seen it a hundred times—because their licorice taste buds—the ones that are left—are clamoring for licorice, NOT meatloaf. Then you convince—no, BRIBE—them to “at least try a little” meatloaf.

Bad idea.

What happens is the flavor explosion brought about by the meatloaf sends a gargantuan signal to the brain that the hands have seriously messed up in approaching the lips with such a vile substance. The stomach responds by reversing the swallowing process and we all know what happens next.

Conversely, YOU Coop, are completely happy with meatloaf because you don’t have a visceral reaction to its potency. I am reminded of my friend’s dad who is elderly and claims that the onions from his garden taste just like sweet apples. He must have been fed strained onions as a kid, because his raw, nasty ‘onion’ taste bud—the one he has left—is clamoring for more onion. (“I gotta have more onion!”)

You must remember at this point that it is impossible to burn out the ‘vegetable’ taste buds. NOTE: you will never be able to addict a child to vegetables, because ‘vegetable’ taste buds—unlike brain cells and ‘licorice’ taste buds—grow back when you destroy them.

So, feed your kids foods you want them to be addicted to, like grains and but a very little meat. Teach them, coffee and tobacco to despise. Hark! Hark! Hark! Their music is sweet…