Why eating habits change with age

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Ask your child what he likes to eat and get the answer: sweets, cakes, pastries. Remember how much your parents fought trying to feed you vegetables. And list the dishes that have become your favorites now. Why do we love different foods at different ages, and what is signaled by a sudden urge to eat "something like that"?

Why we prefer different tastes

Our sense of taste works a little harder than other forms of perception. For example, our nervous system reacts to pain many times faster and easier. What happens when we touch a hot kettle? The receptors felt the pain, transmitted it to the central processing organs, the muscles received a signal to contract and withdraw the hand. What happens when we go to lunch? First, a feeling of hunger appears, then we see how the dish is decorated, we smell it, and our brain is already drawing conclusions about what kind of food it is. And only after that, the food gets on the tongue and the taste buds are connected directly to the work.

Our choice of food depends in large part on the central nervous system and on the experiences we have encountered throughout our lives.

For example, as a child, I had to be treated with apricot-flavored tablets for a long time. Since then, I have not eaten apricots at all, I can hardly stand the smell. The opposite effect also works: if pleasant emotions join the taste in memory, an incredibly appetizing set is obtained.

But even without a psychological component, our tastes can change. When we upset the balance and lose the right substances, physiology intervenes. The mechanism of work of food receptors is built in such a way that with a lack of certain minerals, hormones and enzymes in the body, the sensitivity of cells to these elements increases markedly. Animals suffering from a lack of salt choose "tasteless" salt water for drinking. When the level of insulin in the blood is high, animals are looking for the sweetest treat on offer. In humans, the mechanism for choosing food is similar: we need food to make up for the lack of nutrients and minerals.

Why children love sweets and adults love spicy

Children love sweets for two reasons. First, they require a lot of energy to grow and move, much more than adults. And sweet contains a large amount of fast carbohydrates. Plus, breast milk tastes sweet and a preference for sugary foods is innate.

Babies have 30,000 taste buds in their mouths. As we grow, their number gradually decreases, and in adults, the number of cells that perceive taste is three times less. And any bright sensations that irritate the receptors seem too strong to babies. Anything that seems salty to an adult, a child will feel as salty, spicy seasonings, even in small quantities, will burn the tongue, and complex and spicy flavor compositions will cause too many emotions.

Scientists have found that the transitional age for gustatory sensations occurs after 20 years.

It is from this moment that spicy sauces, salted and canned vegetables, garlic and spices begin to like. After another year, adults manage to taste some vegetables, such as spinach. Then, year after year, blue cheeses, oysters, olives are added to the list of delicious foods. But goat cheese begins to be appreciated after 28.

The gradation is very arbitrary, because after 20 years in general, we choose much more products than before this age. So from the point of view of taste, we move into adulthood only after exchanging our third dozen. Including because we can change the attitude towards food due to signals from the central nervous system. If we taste unfamiliar food in pleasant company, we will like it more than the same food, but in an annoying environment. And even the products that used to be disgusting seem not so vile when we are sitting at a table with friends.

What to do when you are drawn to salty

Why do we need to know the mechanisms of the formation of taste and the change in preferences? To be attentive to yourself and regulate your diet.

If you are already well over twenty, and you still do not like vegetables and cannot give up too fatty or sugary foods, it's time to change something. The plate will help you figure out what signals your body is signaling when it asks for supplements.

What do you want	What does it say	How to fix
Salty	You are lacking in chlorides, protein foods, or your receptors are used to flavoring	Gradually switch to reducing the amount of salt in your diet so that the food does not seem bland. Balance your diet and add more protein to it. And to eliminate chloride deficiency, lean on seaweed.
Sour	Lack of magnesium	Eat sources of magnesium, such as nuts, buckwheat, legumes, greens
Sweet	The body is low on energy or your stress levels are high	Snack fruit in between meals and eat cereal for breakfast to keep energy evenly in your body. Find out why you are nervous and address the cause.
Bold	Need More Calcium!	Eat cheese, legumes, broccoli and beets, almonds and kale. For calcium absorption well, eat vitamin D, eat fatty sea fish and nuts
Bitter or spicy	Digestive problems	Arrange fasting days and see a doctor to rule out diseases of the gastrointestinal tract

«