My Tastebuds have been Abducted and Replaced with Alien ones...Potentially

[Emjayd]

Hi All,

I have been loosely following the NHS plan now since April. I have re-thought my diet and try to eat healthily and have joined the gym (which, I hasten to add, I do actually use). It's all going pretty well. Easier than anticipated to be honest, however, I can no longer tolerate the yummy things I used to love such as cake, chocolate, pastry etc, etc. My brain still insists I like these things but once they are in my mouth, all I can taste is sugar or fat (depending on what's in there), and it absolutely turns on me, much to my disgust. Alas, I am truly afeared that I will never again be able to enjoy the lushness of a beautifully crafted chocolate! Has anyone else experienced this or do I just have highly bizarre tastebuds? Will the enjoyment of chocolate ever return or will I be stuck with an unrequited love forever??

[MW50]

I agree, I now hate the greasy texture and taste of anything with a moderately high fat content, but my brain still tells me it is going to taste good. Hopefully my brain will catch up sometime soon.

[DartmoorDumpling Restart Feb 2024]

I think you have self-hypnotised your mind into seeing chocolate as nasty brown icky fat, and cake as nasty sickly sugary goo - and a very successful dieting strategy that must be!

Hopefully your enjoyment of chocolate will be limited to small portions of very expensive and good quality chocolate, on special occasions only!

[Seuzan]

I wish my taste buds had been abducted too!

[Hidden]

I wish I was like that haa! Oh well, maybe in the future, when I've been eating healthy for a few months, eh?

Maybe have very small portions of the best quality stuff, like someone suggested here before me.

Hopefully your brain will start thinking of them as yucky before too long and then you'll be one of those cool people who actually like eating healthy food because you think it tastes good.

[Emjayd]

Wow. I wonder if I could also self-hypnotise myself into thinking that I'm a Page 3 stunner too! I am now slightly more concerned that it appears only myself and MW50 have developed this problem. I genuinely thought loads of people would say that they had undergone the same transformation. For those that still love the brown stuff, have you gone cold turkey with it at all? I went cold turkey on all the niceties of life and think that I may have reset my tastebuds. The same thing happened when I gave up sugar in tea 20 years ago. I can't even tolerate a grain in my tea now but I have never enjoyed tea the same as I did when I was a 2 spoon kinda gal

[MW50]

I also went cold turkey on fat and refined sugar so I guess that is the cause. I have a further problem in that I have a reputation as a bit of a cook but fear that food that taste good to me is now too bland for everyone else.

[Emjayd in reply to MW50]

Yes. I have this problem too. I think that the food that I like is probably very bland! Others would probably say boring...So no dinner parties for me

[roberval]

I'm the same, even bread tastes very sweet. I'm no so bad with savoury stuff especially cheese but crisps and other greasy things are a no too. I'm sure the brain will get the message sooner or later.

[Aussiegirl270416]

Oh wow, this is me! If I am going to eat a treat I have to make sure it is a high quality chocolate or dessert. milk chocolate just tastes nasty! And mashed potato tastes sweet too.

[Emjayd in reply to Aussiegirl270416]

I just tried eating a dark chocolate chip biscuit as someone kindly bought me a box of biccies as a gift and I could only manage a nibble. It was much too sweet!! I have had to hide the fact that I couldn't eat it not to offend the person that gave them to me. Boo 🙁

[radioactiveblue]

Congratulations! It sounds like your taste buds have changed ... maybe some darker chocolate would suit them better now? Maybe bake a cake with half sugar and your choice of fat. You can even substitute out some of the fat too (applesauce is one option).