re-sensitize your taste buds
I’m sitting here at a coffee shop—carrying out my normal morning routine of writing from 6-9 am, and this topic came to my mind. I ordered an iced oat milk latte, as per usual, and when I went to grab my glass…I pondered…should I put a packet of stevia in here today?
Next, I sat down at the high top and white-boarded some nutrition topics for the post today.
I have another blog coming for you to follow this, but this message felt most important for today: We All Could Use A Reset. Today, I will be talking about how to RESET YOUR TASTEBUDS.
I believe that we live in a culture of such gluttony when it comes to most everything—food included, because we have dipped everything we do in sprinkles. Sprinkles that each tick off some gene in our beings that wants more.
The instagram post that’s shiny, shimmering, splendid that reels your brain into a million other reels and then you feel empty after closing out the app.
The bag of chips that started as a humble potato, doused in salts and sugars and spices that an Indian farm would snarl at…not real spices, chemically-constructed spices that play with your hunger/fullness hormones so you don’t know when you are full and when you are hungry.
The car that has added features like bluetooth, tv screens, surround-sound music, and heated cushions—all of which distract you from the main thing…traveling from point A to point B.
The sporting game that is surrounded by restaurants and games and t-shirt sales—again, all of which take away from the main event…the competition we all came to witness.
But getting back to food…
We have become a gluttonous country, full of individuals who (80%) of have no damn clue what’s in their food, how to sense fullness/hunger, and why they crave what they crave more of. It’s like hopping on a train you don’t know the destination to and just weeeee going along for the ride, giving your direction away to the conductor. Guess what, folks, YOU are the conductor of your taste buds…and if you keep dunking them in fake spices, sugars, fried foods, and other chemicals, you absolutely will stay in the no man’s land of not really being able to taste the goodness of true food.
I remember when I visited Israel for the first time and ate a tomato. I was like: what is this? The tomato I ate there tasted altogether different than any tomato that had entered my mouth in the United States. As I grew into my nutrition degree, I would learn that “our” tomatoes are built from genetically modified organisms (GMO) and designed to look big, juicy, and plump…with dangling droplets just like in the Subway commercials.
Man, I used to eat those Subway sandwiches all.the.time. After each basketball practice. During basketball tournaments. And then, I learned that the bread was entirely chemical. It wasn’t until I tasted true, real, from the roots sourdough that I recognized the difference between real and fake bread. And, how much more of a magical journey the real bread was. On top of that, how much more satiated and nourished I felt from the real bread.
Even our water…our precious friend. The taps across Colorado and other states in the U.S., is furtively filled with dangerous chemicals from the Colorado River (you could fill in the blank of the source by just locating whatever big body of water is closest to you). When I cracked open a bottle of water from Italy (on my visit list), and tasted the transparent texture, almost a bitter flavor, and the ease of it going down by throat and into my belly, I knew what real water tasted like. This one is the greatest oxymoron of them all: “real water.” Sure, water can get dirty anywhere, but if we would buckle down on treating Planet Earth right, we wouldn’t know “real water” from “fake water.”
A study was once done amongst Google employees, showing that the proximity of food, which showed that if the company snacks were within 10 feet of employees, they were more likely to grab them than if they were in the further away kitchen. Makes sense—yet, again, 80% of people do not actively honor this in their habits. That one quick switch—moving the snack into another room, could change your life. Or, dare I say, not buying the snack in the first place!
Now, I'm dishing out 5 Tried and Tested Ways To Reset Your Tastebuds, a mission that will surely set you on a course of healthier, happier, more satisfying eating throughout your life.
five tried and true ways to reset your tastebuds and change your diet forever
Once you read these, give them a shot (as a “nutrition plan”) for one week and see how you feel, think, and behave.
Cut out the added sugars, real or fake.
Big Food adds chemicals to your food all the time—you don’t need to do more of that.
Consider the iced oat latte I had this morning. The milk used by the coffee shop likely already had some ingredients which were not entirely natural, and I added a packet of something to make it a little sweeter. I am not shaming or putting down anyone who adds sugar to their foods. I am simply pointing out that there is a space for pause…to consider: does this drink or dish really need more, or do I want to taste its nature?
There is something called The Dorito Effect in which our bodies are tricked into believing that they are receiving nutrients when they are not. This happens when flavor (especially when it is neurotransmitter tricking flavor) is added to food. In nature, flavor and nutrition go together, which is why when you bite into a big juicy orange and you get that sweet succulent juicy nectar your taste buds and your body light up; you taste and receive nutrition! However, when you bite into a Dorito (or any other food with manufactured flavor for the matter), your taste buds light up but your body does not; you taste nutrition but you do not receive nutrition!Naked food = the way.
Be tech-free during at least one meal per day.
Tech is everywhere nowadays. Phones, laptops, iPads, Bluetooth stereo systems—you name it. We can even…ahem, ahem…order food with the tap, tap, tap, swipe of a finger.
The tech is nothing but a disconnect from nature.
Do this: eat at least one meal per day that is devoid of any tech at all. It’s just you and your food.Chew your food at least 25 times per bite before swallowing.
Most people (hi, myself included) chew their food about 3-5 times and then it’s down the gullet.
This skips over a very vital process of breaking down your food, which occurs when you chew more, triggering the release of saliva in your mouth, which contains the enzymes for the food breakdown. This starts a cascade of clearer, more thorough digestion.
Research shows that foods that are harder to chew—such as nuts and steak, should be chewed 40 times and foods that are softer like mashed potatoes and watermelon can be chewed just 5-10 times.I recommend this 25 chews per bite irregardless of what the food is to: a) train you to chew more before swallowing (increase your habitual average chews/bite), b) to slow down the experience of feeling, tasting, fully sensing your food in each bite.
Feel gratitude for your food and it’s journey before sinking in your teeth.
Of the infinte gratitude practices available to us, do this one:
Pause before diving into a meal to consider, from your heart-space:
-where did this food come from?
-what was its upbringing like?
-what might its journey to your plate have looked and felt like?
-what is beautiful about this food?
-how is this food serving you in ways that your body gives thanks for?Ask your food for permission to join together.
Yes, you might find this one to be weird. That’s ok.
Holistic Health Coach Paul Check introduced me to this one, which I had been practicing in my own organic way before. Essentially, you hover your hands over whatever food you have laid out/selected to eat and/or incorporate into a recipe, and you pause to ask for it’s openness, excitement, and willingness to share with you. A possible script, which must come from the heart: Would you like to join me in this beautiful meal/experience?Before you ask, hover to show respect to the food and it’s journey to being before you.
After you ask—hovering your hands, feel it’s vibration. Is the space between the two of you coming together..are the leaves wilting towards you? Is there a rejection energy, a wall up from the food? Let openness be a sign that you are meant to bond, let tension be a sign that you are meant to let the food be free.
closing remarks
Changing the way you eat isn’t always as simple as me or any one person telling you what to do and you doing it.
You have beliefs, behaviors, and cravings to challenge and unwire. That’s where my coaching comes in. If all of these tips sound great, but you need some help untying what is getting in the way of eating healthier and sticking to it, let’s chat.