The flavor of your food matters more than you think when it comes to eating well.
Chances are your meal plans are organized by nutrients: grams of fat, carbs, and protein. And that makes sense, especially if you’re working toward a particular wellness goal, such as building muscle mass or losing a few pounds. However, if you’re simply eating the same foods every day or force-feeding yourself foods you don’t actually like, you might be doing your body a huge disservice, according to registered dietitian Marissa Meshulam, MS, RD, CDN.
“Flavor is very important when it comes to getting satisfied from food,” she says. “If we are not satiated or satisfied by our food, those habits will be hard to maintain — even if the food is healthy.” In fact, research from the journal Food and Function notes that taste controls the feeling of satiety in the brain, sending signals of fullness and therefore regulating appetite. Discover the connection between the taste of food and holistic health, according to experts and longstanding research.
How Do We Taste Food?
“Taste is a complex mix of psychology and physiology,” explains Meshulam. An article from Behavioral Brain Research, for instance, explores how taste is a two-part process that begins in the mouth. Essentially, our mouths contain over 10,000 taste buds located on the roof of the tongue and in the throat, and when food enters the mouth, saliva transports the food to those buds or receptors, and signals to the brain that digestion needs to take place. Your sense of smell (or olfactory nerves) also plays a role in taste, with specialized cells in the nose picking up airborne odor molecules. Because this largely happens just before or at the same time as taste, the two senses are often intertwined — and explains why, when you have a cold, you feel like you aren’t able to taste your food with the same intensity, since those same olfactory nerves are blocked.
The next step in the chemical process of taste comes from the nerve endings in the taste buds themselves, which use neurotransmitters to transfer the taste signals to larger nerves called cranial nerves. These nerves then carry taste sensations to the brain, where some are processed at the base, while others travel to higher brain areas, including the ventral forebrain where they may trigger areas that control emotions and memories.
What Makes Some Foods Taste Better Than Others?
There are many theories about the science of taste, especially regarding the role genes play, including how well you can taste foods and whether you’re predisposed to enjoying certain foods based on emotion. While there aren’t definitive studies that point to why certain foods may taste better than others, several factors can inform why you adore the taste of broccoli, but your significant other doesn’t. There are genetic variations in taste and smell receptors, which can explain why some people love coffee while others hate it, or why you may prefer salty popcorn over sweet. A study done on sets of identical and non-identical twins, published in the journal Human Nutrition Applied Nutrition, indicates that some tastes are predisposed by genes, with the identical twins displaying a certain affinity for more foods than the non-identical twins. This has to do with the varying taste receptors in the body. Environmental factors were said to make up the other taste preferences, such as exposure to the foods, family habits, and social settings.
“Occasionally, we crave certain foods because we are stressed or tired,” adds Meshulum. “For example, we tend to crave more junk foods like fries or donuts when we are anxious or stressed. This is because high-carbohydrate foods can release serotonin, which helps calm us, according to a study from the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology.”
Finally, sometimes the reason why you’re craving the taste of a particular food comes down to your body’s innate sense of knowing, which according to Meshulam, can be more informative than you think. “Salty foods contain important minerals like magnesium, and so we can crave those when our levels are too low,” she says. “Similarly, we reach for sweet foods for the burst of energy they provide by raising our blood sugar levels, which we should take note of and adjust accordingly: by eating sooner for instance, or by sleeping more.”
What Are the Mental and Emotional Benefits of Taste?
“As most people know, food isn’t just food: It can provide a sense of comfort, and holds many benefits beyond nutrition,” says Meshulum. For instance, if you grew up eating spicy foods because it’s what your family enjoyed making, you’ll likely get a sense of calmness and nostalgia by eating those foods, but your friends or partner wouldn’t. A study in Trends in Cognitive Science concludes that eating flavorful foods sends signals to the brain’s reward system, releasing neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin. These substances produce positive pleasure and satisfaction, which can induce a sense of calmness and relaxation.
Essentially then, if you like the taste of your food, you’ll be more satisfied with it. And that can translate to your waistline, too: Research from the journal Eating Behaviors found that those who suffered from obesity reported feeling less pleasure from the food they ate, as opposed to those who were leaner. “Varying tastes can result in varying amounts of satiety,” explains Meshulam. “If we are not satisfied by our food, we are more likely to overdo it and eat past the point of comfortable fullness.”
So, say you keep eating the same chicken and broccoli for lunch every day, but you hate the taste of it and only eat it because you feel like you have to — it could be that you’ll end up eating more of it just to feel satisfied. “This isn’t to say we disregard the nutritional value of food altogether, but we eat every single day, multiple times a day,” says Meshulum. “That means that we should enjoy what we’re eating, even when we’re making healthier swaps.”
After all, there are tons of delicious ways to prepare your favorite vegetables, and what works for one person may not be the best option for someone else.
Bottom Line: Savor Each Bite
“I would highly encourage people to savor the taste of their foods, as enjoyment is what builds consistency,” explains Meshulam. That’s why she’s such a huge proponent of mindful eating, which simply suggests presence when you eat. Not only is this method linked to weight loss, since you’re focusing on the tastes and textures of your food, but according to Meshulam, it’s pretty much the key to sticking to healthy eating long term.
“Consistency is the key to health: It's not the one salad or one piece of salmon, it's what you do on a daily basis,” she says. “And enjoyment is the key to consistency. So, when you’re eating foods, focus on their flavor profile and try to change it up to incorporate different tastes and textures to your diet.” The more you enjoy your healthy foods, the less you’re likely to crave junk.