In class, we learned that if someone eats something and then later gets sick, they are likely to avoid eating that food either for a long period of time or forever. This concept is called Taste Aversion. The example in class used was how wolves became afraid to come near sheep after they got sick from eating them. When talking about this, I found a direct connection to my life.
When I was younger and got sick, my parents would give me medicine. The medicine they gave me was cherry flavored and in the form of a liquid. I had always hated taking medicine but would be forced to for the sake of my health. However, every time I took the cherry-flavored medicine, I would become sick afterwards. It was almost an immediate reaction. My parents started to realize that I could no longer take this flavor of medicine and instead gave me flavors such as orange or grape. I would be completely fine after taking those flavors. As I got older, I found myself avoiding anything that had to do with cherries. I would not eat cherry-flavored candy, cough drops, ice cream, or even the fruit itself. I still continue to do this today. If I accidentally eat something cherry flavored, I immediately realize it and have to spit it out or throw it away. It brings back the memories of when I was child and how I got sick from this flavor. I’m not entirely sure if I would still get sick if I took cherry medicine today, but I am so traumatized by taking it as a child, that I do not want to test it to find out. It really does not matter to me that I have this problem with cherry-flavored medicine, because it is easy to avoid eating something of that flavor. I always buy mint-flavored cough drops, I don’t buy cherry flavored candies, and I eat mostly all types of fruit but cherries. I feel as though if I had a taste aversion to something that is more common in food, such as egg (whether it be the egg it self or used in a recipe), it would be harder for me to eat the things that I love. My hatred and avoidance with anything involving cherries has not impacted my life in a dramatic way but I know that is something I will probably never grow out of.
2 thoughts on “Post #3-Taste Aversion”
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One time when I was a child, my mom went on a trip to visit her mom, leaving my dad in charge on my sister (8) and myself (6). My dad had always been the fun dad, while my mom took care of the parenting responsibilities, like cooking, getting us dressed, and taking care of us when we got sick. So when I told my dad I didn’t feel well – my throat was in pain, my body ached, and I knew I had a fever – he had to take on the responsibility of medicating me. Bless his heart, he tried to do it right, but he ended up giving me an adult-size dose of an orange flavored liquid medicine. I had a sensitive stomach as a kid, so it was almost an instant reaction for me to throw it up (my mother was NOT happy with my dad). My body knew it was too much. I ended up getting sick for the next couple hours, and now anytime there is orange-flavored anything, I associate it with that night and feel my stomach churn instantly. So I understand your aversion! Lucky for us there are so many options of medication flavors, and it’s not too common to run into something orange flavored with no alternative. I LOVE real oranges though, I guess their smell and taste are different enough that I can differentiate between real and flavoring. I’m sure I wouldn’t get sick again if I had orange flavored medicine, but the taste was never that appealing to me anyway, so I figure why take the chance!
I have had a similar experience to you. A couple years ago I developed a taste aversion to Chinese food, when I got sick after eating it one day. Every time I would smell, or even hear someone say they wanted Chinese food I would start to feel very nauseous. This made me stop eating it for several years after. But one day I decided to try it again to see how I would feel and luckily I felt completely fine! I know you said you aren’t sure if you would still get sick today if you tried it, so maybe you should try it to test it out. But if it is not impacting your life in a dramatic way then I wouldn’t worry too much about it; there are many other alternatives to cherry flavored things.