I like to think I'm pretty savvy when it comes to the Internet. During the week days, I split my time between fixing computer problems and finding answers to obscure questions.
That's why I was so disappointed this weekend when I couldn't find the answer to one simple question ... Is it normal for your taste in food to change as you get older?
About a year ago, something changed. Suddenly, I didn't like steak anymore. It wasn't a gradual change. I went from craving sirloin ... to disliking the taste, texture and smell of any type of steak overnight.
Bit by bit the problem spread ... and now I don't like ground beef. It doesn't seem to matter if it's a plain hamburger or seasoned taco meat. I just don't find it appetizing. It's spread to other things too. I'm not fond of pork chops anymore ... or polish sausage ... or sausage of any kind for that matter.
Chicken's still alright ... for now. But Slim Jim's ... you know those beef sticks? I used to love 'em ... now they make me gag.
Here's the odd part. I'm craving things I never liked before. The smell of real crab used to make me sick. Now I could eat that stuff by the barrel. I always liked shrimp but now it's probably my favorite food.
So I went online and Googled this subject. The majority of the results revolved around PETA and the whole, "Don't Eat Anything With A Face" movement. The one thing I can guarantee you is that these changes are not related to animal rights.
There were a few links that explained that your tastes buds change as you get older. Basically you slowly lose your ability over the years to taste sweet or salty foods after you turn forty. That's not my problem ... I can taste just fine. If anything ... it feels like I'm tasting MORE ...
So now I'm turning to you guys. Has anyone heard of this before? Does your taste in food shift every so often ... or did it happen because I'm getting older?
I hope it reverses itself at some point ... because I miss cooking steaks out on the grill.
I don't want to debate
Don't want to hear about
What kind of food you hate
You won't get no dessert
'Till you clean off your plate
So eat it
Weird Al Yankovic - Eat It
Hey Thirty-
ReplyDeleteI have heard of a "taste-shift" that occurs every seven (or so) years in people. It's one of the ways I've heard people explain the reason that as a kid you hate certain foods, but then in your 20s you really develop a taste for it.
Anyone else?
I know where you are coming form sorta...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger I hated Chili with a passion. Now I eat the stuff by the pot full. There are a few other foods that are like that with me as well. I think its a pretty common thing.
Well you guys are right ... I guess as I was growing up I always heard stuff like, "Well, you don't like salad now ... but when you're older you'll love it." Not true, by the way.
ReplyDeleteSo ... maybe this is just another shift. I remember going through a stage in my early twenties when all I wanted to eat was bean and cheese burritos and those gigantic soft pretzels.
So ... I guess this isn't any weirder than that ...
"Well, you don't like salad now ... but when you're older you'll love it." Not true, by the way.
ReplyDeleteRemember when I used to try to feed the rabbits in our backyard the salads you'd try to make me eat?
I actually like salads now... I mean... I won't make a meal out of it... but I will eat it.. specially you're chicken salad..mmm...
That's an interesting phenomenon; I haven't really heard of it. (I can't deny I had picky moments as a child, but) I was a pretty gluttonous kid, but as an adult I've grown more and more picky to the point where one of the several reasons I became a vegetarian is that I just can't stand the gross anymore. I couldn't stand the thought of one more vein or mysterious hamburger crunchy in my food. But I'm not sure 'pickiness' is the same thing. :-) I also can hardly order a salad in a restaurant anymore - locally, anyway; it's different in real restaurants in real cities - because they just don't meet my incredibly picky standards of freshness. I'm not proud of this.
ReplyDeleteAs a child I always liked meat, I was never a picky eater. Then one day in my early teens (it happened overnight) the action of eating meat off a bone made me nauseous actually looking at meat made me nauseous. I can't remember how many years it lasted, but it left me as suddenly as it appeared.
ReplyDeleteAnon1204, the act of tearing flesh from bone is what keeps me from becoming a vegetarian. That, and meat is just darned tasty.
ReplyDeleteMmmmm... buffalo wings... *drools*