When eating something with a distinct taste, what causes the craving of an inverse taste? i.e. eating something sweet and wanting something savory after
In: Biology
The recipes of most processed foods are designed to make you want to eat more and more of them. They do this by carefully balancing the ingredients and not having one overwhelming flavour or texture so that your taste buds don’t get bored halfway through eating them – think coca-cola’s flavour, no single overwhelming flavour so you could happily drink it all day versus apple juice with its single flavour, after a while you’ve just had enough.
Following on from this, food manufacturers also play about with the additives which your body most appreciates: salt, fat and sugar. Think of a lasagne – exactly the right amount of salt, a surprising amount of sugar added to the sauce, and plenty of fat in the meat and added to the sauce. When you are used to eating processed food, then eat something else which is missing one of the 3 things above, your body notices it is missing and “craves” it.
Side note: Studies have shown that the stomach isn’t as easily fooled as the tongue. People who drink low calorie drinks often can’t loose weight because their stomach craves the sugar it thinks it should be getting from the drinks, and they end up snacking more.
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