Taste buds, do they change when you eat a healthier diet and take regular exercise?

Not taste buds - but one thing you might start to notice is your "tastes" change as you eat more and more healthy foods. Things you used to eat all the time, but might be unhealthy, simply don't satisfy you in the same way anymore. You only used to *think* you were satisfied but your body was craving more nutrients. Now that you eat more appropriate amounts of good foods, your desire to eat the bad stuff is simply not there and you just wont "crave" it like you might have in the past.

I notice it with fried foods mostly. I'll eat a small amount of the french fries on my plate and realize I simply don't want any more. Or I might have some fried chicken and realize half way through that I am simply "done". Whereas in the past I wouldn't hesitate to crush the whole plate and think about getting more.

I have noticed it. I used to be a sugar addict and now that I only eat it occasionally I notice the natural sweetness in foods like fruit and veggies. I took a bite of an apple and I was like "yum! this is so delicious and sweet!" and even baby carrots can help a sweet craving whereas before I would totally scoff at that idea!

According to the doctor who is doing a gastric sleeve on my hubby, your taste buds do change. He said that as we gain weight, our taste buds become less sensitive to different flavors and seasonings. He said that once we start eating a more healthy diet and especially having to be on an all liquid diet for the surgery, it will be more noticeable. The more we lose, we should see a bigger difference as well. We have definitely seen changes in what we thought used to taste "good". It does not take very long for them to start changing. We have noticed that we are craving more protein oriented foods and veggies. This is just what we have experienced over the past couple of weeks. I am doing the diet with my hubby for encouragement and also for me to lose weight. I don't want to do the surgery, but I do want to be healthy and lose right along with my hubby.

glevinso wrote: »

I notice it with fried foods mostly. I'll eat a small amount of the french fries on my plate and realize I simply don't want any more. Or I might have some fried chicken and realize half way through that I am simply "done". Whereas in the past I wouldn't hesitate to crush the whole plate and think about getting more.

I wish I could get to this point. I don't eat a lot of fried foods, but I want to. Sweets I can control pretty easily. But I crave fat. Even without fried foods the fat content of my diet is way more than it needs to be.

I think so.. I seem to taste vegetables and fruits 'better' now? Like, they used to be tasteless but now they taste so good. funny thing; when i was in recovery for anorexia when i first started eating again i didnt seem to taste anything, didn't matter if it was chocolate or beef, took my a pretty long time until i actually felt like i could taste food again..

I gave up processed sugar a few years ago. I mean I still get some in foods that I don't prepare, like when dining out, but I avoid it as much as possible.

Like those above, I too have noticed that a little sweet goes a long way now.

I also agree with glevinso that your tastes will change - not your taste buds.

I think so, after eating healthy and cook most our food, out side food usually taste too salty or too sweet for us. We could sometimes taste the "chemical" in the food. I think the less junk/process food you eat, the more you can taste the real food.

Growing up I have always HATE peppers, I would not eat anything that has peppers in it and the smell of it gross me out. However, about 2 month ago, I had a huge craving for it, I gave in and brought a bag of sweet mini bell peppers and I was in love with it. I now have to eat them almost everyday. I too wonder if it's because I have been excise more and eating more healthy....

Yes. Absolutely. For many people, we become a great deal more conscious of the consequences of what we eat, and after eating in a healthier manner for some time, we start to crave it. I crave salads, seafood and winter squash. Sometimes I crave yogurt or kefir. I don't crave potato chips or doughnuts or cookies at all.

hiswaywardgirl wrote: »

If you're on a low fat or whole foods diet, I guess it could be your taste buds. Roast beef is also more processed and contains preservatives, unlike freshly cooked meat. Your body might be telling you to avoid the processed stuff and eat the real thing.

Your taste buds definitely change when you start eating healthier -- if you switch to a diet rich in whole foods, vegetables and fruit can start to taste more complex and delicious than before. Junk food can start to taste unappetizing.

Like Need2Exerc1se said, I have always gotten to the point of not craving sugar, but craving fat. After going a long time without sweets, I could easily walk away from cupcakes or candy, but put deep fried anything in front of me and it is inner turmoil.

I didn't see where the OP said whether this was deli roast beef from a package/sub shop or if it were real roast beef, freshly sliced off the hunk of meat, with no preservatives. Even Arby's has real roast beef, not the compressed meat-food Oscar Meyer crap.

SnuggleSmacks wrote: »

hiswaywardgirl wrote: »

If you're on a low fat or whole foods diet, I guess it could be your taste buds. Roast beef is also more processed and contains preservatives, unlike freshly cooked meat. Your body might be telling you to avoid the processed stuff and eat the real thing.

Your taste buds definitely change when you start eating healthier -- if you switch to a diet rich in whole foods, vegetables and fruit can start to taste more complex and delicious than before. Junk food can start to taste unappetizing.

Like Need2Exerc1se said, I have always gotten to the point of not craving sugar, but craving fat. After going a long time without sweets, I could easily walk away from cupcakes or candy, but put deep fried anything in front of me and it is inner turmoil.

I didn't see where the OP said whether this was deli roast beef from a package/sub shop or if it were real roast beef, freshly sliced off the hunk of meat, with no preservatives. Even Arby's has real roast beef, not the compressed meat-food Oscar Meyer crap.

True! Nothing wrong with real roast beef. Your taste buds should be all over that.

Your taste buds definitely change. I agree they change with sugar (or the lack thereof), but I think even more so with salt and fats. It's like once you stop bombarding your taste buds with these things you can actually taste and enjoy things that used to seem bitter or bland. Like vegetables. I used to cover salads with dressing, but now I would rather eat them with no dressing at all and taste all of the flavors instead of just tasting dressing. I agree very much with DeirdreWoodwardSanders.

Mine honestly haven't changed. I can't think of anything I liked before that I don't like anymore... although I like coffee black now, but still would be just fine with a nice sugar/cream coffee. I know a lot of people tell me that now they find a lot of things too sweet... it hasn't happened to me yet. Even after I pretty much cut refined sugar for a few months, the first sweet thing I ate (some ice cream cake) was totally amazing.

FlatWet wrote: »

I agree with all the things said above.
To add: I also taste SALT like none other now. I don't add it to anything really but I can really really taste it in things.

This. I often forget to add salt to my cooking, as I don't need it. Things I purchase often taste very salty to me. For example, I could barely eat the otherwise delicious Alexia chipotle sweet potatoes and veggies because they tasted incredibly salty to me, to the point that I plan to write the company.

Francl27 wrote: »

Mine honestly haven't changed. I can't think of anything I liked before that I don't like anymore... although I like coffee black now, but still would be just fine with a nice sugar/cream coffee. I know a lot of people tell me that now they find a lot of things too sweet... it hasn't happened to me yet. Even after I pretty much cut refined sugar for a few months, the first sweet thing I ate (some ice cream cake) was totally amazing.

I don't think it's that sugar no longer tastes good. At least not for me. It's that I can be satisfied with a single or smaller serving. One piece is heaven, but too much becomes cloying.

Indeed...I think for many of us, when you give your tastebuds a break from the bombardment of overly seasoned foods, you actually end up being better able to taste more subtle flavors. This translates into tasting things with less sugar as sweet, tasting lightly salted items as salty enough, and being able to really taste the butter and other fats, leading to more satiety in eating.

I find that I'm satisfied with far fewer sweets, and sweets with less sugar. A chocolate protein bar with almost no sugar can actually serve as dessert for me now. An actual serving of ice cream works just fine, and I can have two bites of cake and really enjoy it and then save the rest for later.