“Eat your vegetables!”
How often do we hear this, yet we still see both kids and adults not eating a healthy amount of this food group. As we know, with most traits, we can look to our past for answers by examining our biology and how humans evolved and got to where we are today. Bitter flavors let our ancestors know that that particular plant could be poisonous or otherwise harmful.
Our bodies are survival machines – that can work against us in modern life
The chemical compounds that create bitter flavors are called alkaloids. They have a wide range of forms and functions. Caffeine is an example of an alkaloid that is a stimulant. Alkaloids are generated by plants for functions like protection against parasites, pathogens, and herbivores. If you’re a plant, it’s worth using some energy to produce a compound that will keep animals from eating you!
Since these compounds can be dangerous to us, we evolved to be repulsed by these bitter flavors to avoid even the chance of eating something that could be harmful. Fast forward to modern life, the chances of eating poisonous plants isn’t a daily danger for most of us. But since we didn’t have food markets for the majority of our evolution and needed to be careful about what we hunted/gathered to eat, we have this innate reflex over bitter foods.
So, when people say they don’t like raw kale, it’s normal and expected! We can empathize with them. Plus, there are genetic factors. Some of us taste these bitter compounds more strongly, strengthening that reflex of wanting to spit the bitter veggie out. We are unique individuals, and so are our palates.
How can we overcome this?
So, we have some knowledge, but what can we do to overcome this in real life?
- If you drink coffee, wine, or beer, did you like it the first time you tried it? Our bodies are really great at adapting, and our palate can get used to flavors we taste consistently. Starting small (as we all know), like adding veggies to a sandwich, can be a good first step. Explore, experiment, find a way to make it fun and not a chore. No step in a healthy direction is ever too small to count.
- Reduce processed foods – if we’re so used to the fatty, sweet, salty flavors of processed foods, our palate will be especially sensitive to the bitterness in some vegetables. I think of it as hundreds of food scientists whose entire job is to make these processed foods irresistible to the human palate. It’s hundreds vs one when we encounter processed foods. Hundreds vs one is not going to be an easy ‘battle’ to win if you’re the one! People who are working at incorporating more fresh produce into meals and snacks deserve lots of empathy, patience, and support. You’re doing something extremely difficult.
Conclusion
Since we’re not walking around a savannah or jungle looking for food anymore, we don’t have to worry about the correlation between bitter flavors and actual danger. It’s just part of our ‘software’ that’s inconvenient to modern life.
A takeaway is that how we perceive the taste of vegetables matters. While there’s no magic switch to do it automatically and completely, we can ‘train’ our palates over time to enjoy the bitter notes that lots of really nutritious vegetables have with small, progressive steps.
We experiment, we are patient with ourselves because ups and downs are normal and expected, and persistence over time will lead to impactful healthy change.
