Sharpening the senses - Taste - has yours been hijacked?

As we continue our journey through the five senses, we now get to taste. A sense that is influenced by individual preference, beliefs, marketing and where you shop.

First up, a few fun facts

Your tongue has around 10,000 taste buds, each with around 50 receptors. When we add chewing and smell, we shift from the experience of taste to that of flavour. It allows you to perceive five main tastes:

•  Sweet
•  Salty
•  Sour
•  Bitter
•  Savoury (umami)

Compared to other cells of the body, there’s a fast turn around with taste buds regenerating about every 10 days. That’s good news if you have an injury (like gulping a hot drink) because the taste buds usually repair on their own quite quickly.

Aside from enjoyment, taste also helps us decipher if food is fresh or spoiled and more importantly if it’s toxic (bitter cells towards the back of the tongue help with this before swallowing). Plus we have receptors for hot, cold and spicy!

The mouth (with enzymes in saliva) is also the beginning of digestion, especially for carbohydrates and there is even a hormonal response with insulin being secreted to help the body prepare for glucose.

But have your tastebuds been hijacked?

If you consume a lot of processed and sugary foods then this is quite likely. The problem is when two inches of tongue derail the health of five to six feet of body!

You get a lot of taste pleasure and calories but at the detriment of essential nutrients such as fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and trace elements. Plus, there’s all the inflammatory response tied to processed foods.

What’s real anymore?

In the modern world, taste really has been influenced by the myriad of products on the grocery store shelves. Many processed foods are so hyper-palatable that once you have just one of those cookies, drinks or crisps you are on auto-pilot for more and more and more! You just can’t stop because you have an explosion of taste in your mouth that’s addictive. In fact, food manufacturing companies employed scientists to create the ‘bliss point’ with an addictive mix of sugar, salt and fat (plus flavour enhancers).

We’ll pick this topic up again next week with a cluster about smell and how synthetic fragrances have found their way into so many products that the scent of nature has lost its richness.

Take out/restaurant food

I only go out to eat a few times a year. Why? First up, I’m a good cook! But the main reasons is because most cafes, restaurants and take outs use low grade, cheap and unhealthy ingredients (so unlikely to be, organic, local, whole, fresh and pasture raised).

These services tend to be interested in satisfying your eyes, nose and taste (and of course their profit margins). It is rare to find an establishment that also focuses on nutritional quality and the customers’ health. However, please do some local research as I would love to be proved wrong on this! You could research ‘restaurants that are free from seed oils, gluten and msg’.

Fingers to mouth

I‘m a big fan of ancestral ways and this includes movement, diet, awareness, time outdoors in nature… and even how you eat.

I recall an experience about 20 years ago, where for the first time, I ate at an Ethiopian restaurant. When the food was served, there was no cutlery. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) said that we eat with our hands and scoop up the various delights with a thin bread that was served along side.

In fact this is not just an ancient practice, but is customary now in many parts of the middle east, India and Central America. Of course, depending on what you’ve been up to, you might like to wash your hands (with natural, non chemical, soap). And be prepared to get a bit messy. But if you embrace it, it feels natural, it feels right.

Although our ancestors have used stone tools for cutting food for thousands of years, silverware on the other hand is quite modern (the current fork design is only a few hundred years old) and it can separate you from the goodness and energy of the food. Eating with your hands can help you:

• Slow down
• To better relate to the food (feel the prana/energy of the food)
• Have more appreciation for the meal
• Release digestive juices and enzymes
• Check on temperature

So, when the time feels appropriate, don’t be afraid of getting in there and touching your food.
One thing, it doesn’t work too well with soup, just pick up the (hand carved) wooden bowl!

Taste your food

In summary here, taste can be a huge influence over your health, so something to be aware of as you prepare and eat your meals this week. 

Maybe you can be more aware of your taste buds, slow down to eat and really taste your food? And to enjoy more home cooked delights this week. Also, watch out for those hyper-palatable packaged foods and instead prioritise natural whole foods.

Whether it be change of mind, change of habits, change of belief or change of taste… change is always possible. Just be patient and expect a few sets backs on this

amazing journey to improved health and vitality

Here are some mantra suggestions to repeat a few times each day:

“I love making home cooked food that is both tasty and healthy”

“Today, this week and beyond, I am enjoying foods that taste good and have nutritional value”

“I am being mr concious of the taste of food while eating more slowly. This will help me absorb nutrients.

Thanks for reading

Take care

Danny

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