Let’s face it, for the overwhelming majority of us, foods like kale, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts aren’t the foods we tend to reach for when we get a sudden craving for a snack. They’re just not our go-to choices. If we eat them at all, we do it because we know they’re good for us. We tend to treat them as something of a necessary evil.
Wouldn’t it be great though, if we could retrain our brains (and our taste buds) to really, genuinely love foods like this? Actually, you can! Not only can you make it much more likely that your children will love the healthy stuff, it’s not too late for you either. Here are a few things you can do:
It Starts Before You’re Born
A portion of our food preferences come from the kinds of food our parents feed us, and that includes the nourishment we get before we’re born. If a pregnant woman eats plenty of broccoli, kale, spinach, and the like, those foods will alter the composition of the amniotic fluid that nourishes the child growing inside her, which leads directly to influencing tastes and preference after the child is born. The earlier you start feeding your child these kinds of foods, the better, and what could be earlier than this?
Masking
One of the reasons we (children and adults) dislike the healthy foods is the fact that many of them taste bitter. There are a variety of ways of masking the bitter flavor – everything from butter, to salt, to cream cheese. Try mixing the healthy foods you want to learn to love with these for a month or two, gradually reducing your use of the masking agent until you’re enjoying those foods plain.
Taste Is Relative
Finally, understand that taste is relative. Your taste buds grow accustomed to the foods you eat, and overtime, the foods you eat the most of become the “new normal.” If you cut out the sweets, and bulk up on the healthy foods, and you stick with that for at least three weeks, you’ll actually start to crave the foods you’re eating more of. The trick, of course, is in sticking with it long enough for that to happen!
The bottom line is, yes! It is absolutely possible to learn to love the foods that are the best for you, and there are lots of obvious benefits for doing so.