Don’t like salad? it’s okay. There are many foods in the world and many different ways to prepare them.
but given Almost all of us don’t eat enough vegetablesnevertheless Most of us (81%) know Eating more vegetables is an easy way to improve your health, so it’s worth trying.
If this thought makes you feel miserable, don’t worry. With time and a little effort, you can make friends with salad.
Why don’t I like salad?
Vegetables are very good for us, but it’s an unfortunate quirk of evolution that they don’t immediately taste good to everyone. Because hunger is a more immediate risk than long-term health, we have evolved to enjoy the sweetness and umami (flavor) of energy-dense foods.
Although vegetables are not particularly high in energy, they are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, and health-promoting compounds called bioactive substances.
These bioactive substances are part of the reason why vegetables taste bitter. Plant bioactive substances, also called phytonutrients, are produced by plants to protect themselves from environmental stresses and predators. The very things that make plant foods bitter are also beneficial to us.
Unfortunately, bitter taste evolved to protect us from poisons and perhaps from eating too much of a single plant food. So in a way, plant foods taste like poison.
For some of us this bitter feeling is especially acute, for others it is not so bad. This is partly due to our genes.humans at least 25 different receptors And each of us has a unique combination of genes. That is, some people can really, really taste the bitter compounds, while others can barely taste them.
This means we don’t all have the same starting point when it comes to our relationship with salads and vegetables. So be patient with yourself. But the steps to falling in love with salads and vegetables are the same no matter your starting point.
it takes time
Our genes and receptors aren’t the end of the story, so we can train our taste buds. repeated exposure Bitter foods help you adapt over time. With repeated exposure, our brains learn that bitter vegetables are not food.
And when we change what we eat, the enzymes and other proteins in our bodies also change. changes in saliva Too. This changes how different compounds in food are broken down and detected by taste buds.Not sure how exactly this works, but it’s similar to the others behavioral cognition training.
Add masking ingredients
The good news is that you can use many good strategies to mask bitterness in vegetables. This will enhance your taste training.
salt and fat Adding seasonings and dressings can instantly make your salad taste better, as it can reduce the perception of bitterness.
You may be thinking, “But don’t you need to reduce your salt and fat intake?” – Yes, but you can effectively get more nutrients by reducing them in any food such as cakes, biscuits, crisps, desserts, etc., rather than trying to avoid them with vegetables. can.
addition heat You can also add chili pepper or pepper to counteract the bitterness. Adding fruit to a salad adds sweetness and juiciness, balances the overall flavor and texture, and increases enjoyment.
food pairing It also helps if you’re already learning to like your favorite foods.
of salad options There are almost endless options, but if you don’t like the standard garden salad you’re grown, that’s okay, keep experimenting.
Under experiment texture (Cut vegetables into smaller or larger pieces, etc.) It will also help you find your favorite salad.
challenge one’s own biases
Challenging your own biases can also help improve your salad situation. A phenomenon called the “unhealthy/tasty intuition” leads us to believe that delicious foods are bad for us and healthy foods taste bad. By dispelling that misconception, you will be able to enjoy vegetables even more.
When researchers label vegetables Labels with a focus on tasteWhen subjects were encouraged to enjoy a taste, they were more likely to enjoy it than when they were told it was good for their health.
conclusion
vegetables are good for usbut you need to be patient and kind to yourself when trying to eat more.
try working and It’s not against biology and the brain.
And if you don’t like your salad, don’t criticize yourself or others. We are all at different points in our taste training journey.
emma beckettFaculty of Environmental and Life Sciences Full-time Lecturer (Food Science/Human Nutrition) newcastle university
This article is republished from conversation Under Creative Commons License.read Original work.
