Tag Archives: Taste Aversion

Taste Aversion

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When John Garcia conducted an experiment that paired taste, sight, or sound with radiation, he found that taste was strongly associated with nausea. This led to the concept of taste aversion. As defined in our notes, taste aversion means that humans are apt to have an aversion to foods if they become sick afterwards. In class we mentioned that taste aversion might be a survival instinct that is coded into our genes. This would explain why we have such a violent dislike of something that was paired with our bodies being sick. Our body is just trying to keep us alive and healthy.

I have experienced taste aversion in my own life and it still affects me today. When I was a child and couldn’t take pills, I would have to take liquid medicine. My mom would give me the liquid Tylenol in grape flavor. I can remember the taste and the disgustingly thick texture to this day. Because I would take this when I was sick with a fever, that often meant that it accompanied throwing up. Ever since I was forced to take grape flavored Tylenol I have had a taste aversion to anything grape flavored. To this day I will not eat grape popsicles or grape candy and I will not drink anything grape flavored.

My roommate also shared her taste aversion story with me. She once ordered a cheeseburger from McDonald’s. After consuming it, she ended up becoming sick and throwing up. Now she can’t even think about eating a McDonald’s cheeseburger without wanting to throw up. It is interesting how she can eat anything else from McDonald’s besides their hamburgers and cheeseburgers. My own brother even has a taste aversion to grilled cheese because of becoming sick after eating one. I find it fascinating how almost everyone you talk to has their own experience with a food item to which they have developed a taste aversion.

Taste Aversion

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The week after spring break, I returned back to school with some fresh vegetables, tortilla wraps, and my favorite Buffalo Light Ranch dressing that I had just recently discovered. As I live in an apartment and do not have a meal plan, bringing back with me these groceries that my parents so generously paid for was a huge bonus. I returned back Sunday afternoon and by dinner time could hardly wait to dig into my new items. I decided a sautéed vegetable wrap with a topping of my newly favorite dressing sounded beyond delicious. Needless to say, after I made it and scarfed it down, I was nothing less then pleased. This pleasure was short lived, however, as the next morning I woke up with terrible stomach pain. I was unable to eat and began to uncontrollably vomit. As it turns out I had contracted the stomach flu from my cousins at home who had also just gotten it.

Well after a long three days of no eating and too much sleeping, I finally felt better. However, I had a dilemma I faced every time I opened our refrigerator, I simply could no longer look at the vegetables or lovely buffalo ranch dressing that I devoured just days before. Every time I did I felt the nausea come over me again. I wanted so badly to crave this food as it was just sitting in my refrigerator going bad, but no matter how hard I tried I could not think of eating it again. It was then that I realized I was experiencing taste aversion, or the idea that humans are prone to have an aversion to foods if they become sick shortly after eating them. Since this was the last food item that I ate before becoming sick, my mind instantly associated the vegetables and dressing with my ill feeling of days prior. I became very sad to know that trying to eat these foods again would be a lost cause for a while and that I would have to throw them away. If only it had been something like brussels sprouts that I ate before getting the flu, then maybe I would not resent this taste aversion quality that we possess so much.

 

Post #3-Taste Aversion

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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.