Tastebuds

nicolega2001

How long does it take until your tastebuds adjust to healthier food? I've been watching what I eat for about a month now and I crave unhealthy food. I have heard many people say that their taste buds have adjusted to healthier food over time and that when they go to have their old favorites/unhealthy food it isn't as satisfying as it used to be. And I've also heard people say that they look forward to eating healthy food, which is hard for me to imagine at this stage in my journey.

I am experimenting with having smaller portions of the unhealthy treats I enjoy, hoping to scratch the itch so to speak, and oftentimes it just leaves me wanting more of the item.

ladyhusker39

I've never adjusted to healthier food. I still eat my junkie sweets just less often and in smaller amounts.

tulips_and_tea

It varies per individual. As the previous poster mentioned, their taste buds have not changed, but mine have. It took longer than a month, though, so give it time and just see how it goes for you personally.

I love to cook and use a lot of different spices, including salt, but when I go out to eat now most things are too salty for me. I used to eat sweets like gummy bears but they are just too sweet for me now. Just my experience though.

RoxieDawn

My taste buds have never changed. I still eat plenty of healthy and sprinkle in goodies and sweets that fit my calories.

Maxxitt

For all the deserved "woo" responses to a very low carb diet having any good long-term effects, one lasting change I experienced (and by lasting, I mean almost 20 years now) is that I am more tuned in to the natural sweetness of whole foods (not just fruit, but even things like bell peppers and fresh lettuce), and I am not that into commercially sweetened products, and I find artificial sweeteners just plain taste bad. Edited to add - I noticed the change about three months into that low-carb experience and it hasn't gone away.

janejellyroll

My tastebuds never changed. High calorie food tastes just as good to me as they did when I was heavier (and I've been maintaining since July of 2015, so it's been a couple of years) and on the occasions that I have big portions of them, I don't have trouble enjoying or digesting them. I think the difference for me is that I always liked all kinds of food -- I didn't have to learn to like lower calorie/nutrient-dense food (if that is what you mean by "healthy") because I was already eating it.

toxikon

I'm not a huge veggie fan, so I do have to make an effort to get a few servings of veggies every day. I usually just end up grabbing broccoli on the way home to cut up after work and steam in the microwave with salt and butter. If I have time, I'll do up some roasted veggies or salad.

I don't deprive myself of junk food, fast food or restaurant food. Everything in moderation!

TavistockToad

My taste buds never changed...

callsitlikeiseeit

i dont eat things i dont like.

i do however, eat a lot less overall.

but i still eat chocolate, pizza, burgers, sweets, alcohol. whatever. i make it fit in my day.

life is too short to eat kale

LOLOL

kommodevaran

I think the question is wrong, because the premise is wrong. I think you are thinking just as I did, that healthy food by its very nature is bland, boring, bitter and blech. This means that what you like, is unhealthy, and what you dislike, is healthy. Deeply believing that you are craving the "wrong" things, drives and feeds this cycle.

I learnt how to cook when I was little, and I have always cooked, but I didn't trust my own cooking - I would eat at restaurants, but couldn't get myself to apply the same techniques (sugar, salt and fat is dangerous! cause diabetes! cancer! high blood pressure! you get fat!) so I boiled and dry-cooked and drained off fat, and added artificial sweeteners, and ate low fat cheese and low fat salami and drank low fat milk and diet coke. Until I couldn't take it anymore, and buried my head in potato chips bags and family size candy bars.

What made the cycle break for me, was that I stopped demonizing foods, food groups and nutrients. Now I decided to stop being afraid, and just eat - eat normal food, but in normal amounts. Cook food the way it was supposed to, balanced, tasty and appealing. Eat meals. Take back "special occasions". Allow myself pleasure, but responsibly.

It went way better than expected. I started to enjoy real food. I started to crave vegetables. I started to enjoy waiting for a good meal. I started to enjoy cooking, planning meals, grocery shopping.

Real food has a different - richer, more subtle - range of flavors and textures than junk food, and you need time and willingness and repeated exposure to get used to and learn to enjoy it. And we don't like everything. We have our favorites, and our aversions, and they are personal and pretty persistent.

I still like junk food, but I don't eat it as often, and in much smaller amounts. I am selective, and pick out one item per week (roughly), and enjoy it, without fear and regret. I feel satisfied and relaxed, not like I'm letting myself down.

YMMV.

Need2Exerc1se

I think it's more about finding the right "healthy foods" than a specific time frame. I don't know that time alone can always make you like something. Or make you not like some things.

But your tastes can change over time. If you eat a lot of crap food that mostly tastes like grease and salt, you can learn to love foods with less of these by exploring new seasonings and flavor combinations. And once you do, you may find foods that have little flavor other than grease and salt less appealing.

Or you may not. It's not a guarantee.