Is dieting changing your palate?

Daniel78
Daniel78 Posts: 37
edited September 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I've been dieting in one form or another for the past decade and have recently tried a few new things. I'm currently concerned with my waist line and not my overall weight due to a military PT test coming up. A high sodium diet makes me balloon up around the waist from water weight so I'm trying to keep my sodium intake on the low side.

With that being said, I quit adding table salt to everything and all of my canned goods are the low sodium variety. I'm not sure if this is the root of it but my palate has changed immensely, mostly in a good way. I can actually taste things I've never been able to before, and when I eat out I can easily identify the smallest amount of sodium in anything and actually complain about the taste hehe. When I tried a sip of my wife's coke it tasted like a diet coke to me. It had that artificial sweetener taste and she said that it tasted fine to her. A few days later the same thing happened and even my coffee started tasting differently.

I'm wondering if the low sodium diet has changed my palate or made it easier to identify certain tastes and if anyone else can relate. Most of the changes are good, but once in a while something will throw me for a loop and I'll wrinkle my nose up at a food I used to love. Asparagus, suddenly I love it and have always refused to touch it. Go figure. I normally munch on some green olives with pimentos as a snack and lately they've tasted so salty that I'm spending half an hour at the sink rinsing them clean! Maybe I'm watching too much Hell's Kitchen.

Replies

  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    I know from cutting salt out of my diet, I no longer crave it. I am surprised that right now I don't crave it during my TOM. :laugh: So, I don't put salt on anything anymore. :smile:
  • HOLLEE85
    HOLLEE85 Posts: 89
    I find now that I don't eat fried foods when I do on the occasional cheat day I feel really sick after.
  • Silver_Dream
    Silver_Dream Posts: 1,630 Member
    My urge for sugary foods is decreasing. I still want to by the Chips Ahoy chewy cookies, but it's easier for me to walk past them and not try to buy them.
  • sandra400
    sandra400 Posts: 51 Member
    i have not added salt to food in years and yes the taste buds get more sensitive to the flavor of
    added salt.
    this is a good thing, if we knew how much salt was added needlessly to our foods we would be surprised.
  • Magenta15
    Magenta15 Posts: 850 Member
    i find that when i try to drink my once fave diet drinks [ diet pepsi, diet ice tea] i can't finish them, ill get this big ol craving for diet pepsi, go get one cuz it's guilt free and then can't finish it cuz all i taste is chemicals blech:noway:
  • TKelly06
    TKelly06 Posts: 225 Member
    I did notice a change once I was watching my sodium. I could definately tell when something was way too salty.

    I also noticed how things taste better now that I do not put salt on them. Growing up I saw my mother always salt everything so I did the same. I wish I had stopped using salt a long time ago.

    I don't use canned vegetables anymore because there is too much sodium. The low sodium ones taste horrible but I did notice that frozen vegetables have little to no sodium so we use that now.

    Do I still have things I enjoy that may be high in sodium, of course, but I also up my water intake for that day to help flush the sodium out of my system.
  • Daniel78
    Daniel78 Posts: 37
    I did notice a change once I was watching my sodium. I could definately tell when something was way too salty.

    I also noticed how things taste better now that I do not put salt on them. Growing up I saw my mother always salt everything so I did the same. I wish I had stopped using salt a long time ago.

    I don't use canned vegetables anymore because there is too much sodium. The low sodium ones taste horrible but I did notice that frozen vegetables have little to no sodium so we use that now.

    Do I still have things I enjoy that may be high in sodium, of course, but I also up my water intake for that day to help flush the sodium out of my system.

    I think I'm going to try out the frozen veggies. I actually do pick up each and every can of "specific vegetable" and compare labels for the lowest sodium and stick with that brand. It helps but some of the flavors are lacking. Buying fresh produce all of the time gets expensive and then I'll need to actually use it in a timely manner. That's why I love canned goods, they don't take up fridge/freezer space and won't spoil for eons. Frozen veggies eh? I'll take a looksie!
  • mamaturner
    mamaturner Posts: 2,447 Member
    YES it has. My background is in Culinary, and unfortunatly what people think is flavor is really the salt. And even if you don't change the types of food you eat, your palate changes througout life. It's very good to stop adding salt to your food.. I have the hardest time cooking at my home b/c I am an ex smoker and my husband still smokes.. and smoking deffinitly masks the real flavors in food.
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