Acquired Taste – Taste Buds and the Brain

“It’s an acquired taste.” We hear that phrase all the time, but what does it really mean? Is acquiring a taste for something physiologically possible or is it just something people say to suggest their palates are more refined than ours? We do know that our sense of taste changes as we mature. Is that change something that happens gradually and without our knowledge or can we manipulate it to suit our needs?

What is an acquired taste?

The phrase “acquired taste” typically refers to a food or drink that most people find distasteful but that others enjoy. In the U.S. for instance, coffee and raw oysters top the list of items people consider to be acquired tastes. Other common items are bleu cheese, anchovies and olives.

The biology of taste buds, and how they change

As we enter middle age, the number of taste buds we have begins to decrease. This change starts at about age 40 for women and 50 for men. Our taste buds that do remain also begin to atrophy, rendering them less able to distinguish and discriminate between tastes. Typically, salty and sweet are the tastes that diminish first, followed by bitter and sour.

The physiology of taste and how it changes

Apart from the biological changes that occur to our taste buds as we age, our changes in taste are mainly due to how our taste buds communicate with our brain. This is the core of the “acquired taste” issue. Few babies are born with a love for pizza, but as their exposure to pizza increases, their ability to enjoy it follows suit.

Two processes are involved in acquiring a taste for something, yet they both involve the brain. First is familiarity. We may turn up our noses at the thought of eating insects, yet they are a common and appreciated food source in many other parts of the world. The “distaste” we have for them really doesn’t have much to do with taste at all, but rather the “thought” of what we are eating. It is therefore a function of the brain rather than the taste buds.

The second process is a conscious desire to want to like something. For instance, maybe we like the idea of sitting at a raw bar with our friends, sampling oysters, clams and fish from around the world, but just can’t bear the thought of eating raw seafood. If we really want to enjoy something and our motivation is strong enough, our brain will cooperate and allow us to acquire a taste for that food.

Acquiring a taste for something is not only possible, it occurs throughout life whether we want it to or not. The process keeps us nourished by allowing us to enjoy foods that are most available to us as well as keeps us content by allowing us to steer our preferences to fit our image of ourselves.

Sources:

“Aging Changes in the Senses,” U.S. National Library of Medicine