Cravings?

Do you want to know why you’re looking at a photo of green olives?

Because I like the way these green olives taste, enough that I regularly eat them a la carte!

Why is this meaningful to share?
I spent the first 33 years of my life not liking the taste of green olives!  

Our tastes can change. The factors that influence our “taste” is complex (think metabolic programming, psychology, beliefs, adolescence, habits, etc.) I won’t attempt to provide a comprehensive summary on this topic. But one interesting thing to note is that metabolic programming actually helps people maintain healthy eating habits. When cells are programmed by good nutrition to function in a good way, the cells remember what is good for them. Then those cells work with other cells, releasing hormones and using and storing energy in ways that prompt the body to crave more of the nutrients that will keep it on a healthy track. We can train our cravings to be healthy cravings!

A key here was I didn’t have a fixed mindset that told me “I don’t like green olives”. The dislike had stayed in the sensory context, in my Gustatory system-which perceives taste and flavor. From my teens until now I’ve tried a green olive every 1-2 years and continually upgraded my overall nutrient consumption. Then, I realized this year the flavor of green olives was no longer harsh! My body had changed. Because of this I decided to buy a jar last month, and now here we are!

I regularly coach people who tell me they have certain foods they strongly dislike and have spent years thinking of that food as something they strongly dislike. There are legitimate reasons why people dislike food (allergies & intolerances, sensory issues, digestive challenges, autoimmune disorders, etc.) Sometimes reasons like these have completely guided a person’s eating habits into adulthood. But when a grown person says to me “I don’t like vegetables”, “any vegetables”, I know a mindset is present that is influencing their particular eating choices of an entire food type. And they can change!

I’m currently taking a “shaping tastes” course 7 days a week, 3 hours a day, feeding my three young children. In the context of early childhood, Dr. William Sear’s informed me that nutrition studies have shown that repeated exposure (10-20 times) to a new food eventually leads most children to accept it. And guess what? Metabollic programming is meaningful at any age because our body is constantly making new cells, and we can teach them new things.

When we lead our thoughts & actions towards health, our food cravings and eating choices will follow.

Try again.