Imagine you are with your friends for a Sunday lunch, you give them an option to choose between a boatload of fried nuggets and a low-calorie vegetable salad. What do you think you guys would end up having? We all know the answer to this, and the one common excuse they will give you is that “healthy food doesn’t taste good”. But to what extent is this true? This myth has been around for ages, and it is not an easy one to dispel.
There is different research conducted on the eating patterns of humans. In most of these studies, it was found that the majority of the people are inclined towards junk food over healthy food just because of the taste aspect of it.
What is the reason behind this?
Healthy food doesn’t satisfy the taste buds of people while junk food does taste good to them and there are many evolutionary reasons behind this. Ancient humans were bound to eat and live on plants around them. As times changed, their body-needs started changing. What humans really needed, and what was then in short supply, was sodium. Most of us wonder why food tastes better with salt in them: because it triggers serotonin. The same goes for other great and dense sources of energy: fat and sugar! But with modernization, humans learned to make food items which were next level salty, sugary, and fatty – the combination that sends our brains into a pleasure overdrive. But what they didn’t think of, is that too much of these simply inflict irreparable harm on our bodies.
Most of us have been brought up by eating a standard Indian/American diet of spicy, saucy, salty, and sugary food items. We are also fond of packaged foods that are highly processed with a heavy dose of chemicals. Processing of food often removes its nutritional value and may contain unhealthy preservatives. These foods are also high on hidden sugars. These are the only food items that our taste buds are familiar with. This is the reason why we have lost touch with our natural food instincts. Now healthy and non-sugary food items are tasteless to us.
We all know that cravings for these extra-flavored food items are irresistible. Many scientists are considering it as an addiction. So, no matter how much you eat junk, you crave for more.
One thing that is important to keep in mind is that people’s perception of what’s “healthy” is heavily influenced by food lobbyists and companies marketing their products. Things will get better when we start looking at food as a ‘medicine’ for our health.
Conclusion:
To sum it up, it is a myth that healthy food tastes bad! You need to unlearn this in order to become a healthier version of yourself. Junk foods not only harm you but also block your perception of taste and get you hooked to all the artificial flavors, sugar, salt, and other additives. The variety of delicious healthy food is unlimited. Start exploring now for a healthier and better life.