I have a question.

[conuly]

An unanswerable question, to be sure, but listen anyway.

I like certain foods. Other people dislike some of the foods I like, while I dislike foods that *they* like. Do the foods I dislike actually taste different to me than they do to the people who like them?

Comments

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly, yes, they do taste different. I read an article that said everyone's smell receptors are different (i.e. different sets of them are active, and no one has all of them active) and small is very closely related to taste.

[conuly]

Most of "taste" isn't taste at all, in fact. Depending on how you count them up, there are anywhere from 4-6 tastes, right? (Richness is one we generally don't include, and spiciness.... other people do though)

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

My sister in law doesn't like honey. She once said it had a bitter taste, so I know we are tasting it the same.
A lot of people, my husband included, like splenda, can't tell it isn't sugar. For me it has this off taste in everything I try with it. So yes, I think maybe it does actually taste different.

[eclectic-1.livejournal.com]

Yes and no. They have proven that some tastes vary due to genetic diversity. I remember in biology, we all tasted a substance (I forget what it was) that most people said tasted like aspirin, but about 25% of the class could not taste it at all. They've also discovered some people are super-tasters, tasting things much more acutely, while some people are at the other end of the spectrum needing a lot of something for it to make an impression.

I was reading an article recently about how taste changes as you grow. Children tend to taste bitter much more strongly than adults, which would explain why parents have a hard time getting kids to eat vegetables.

Did you know a baby under three months can not taste sour? My oldest daughter used to love sucking on plain lemons, until those taste buds developed.

On the other hand, taste can be developed. I can't even begin to list the things I used to not like that I like now. One of the weirdest ones was horseradish. I never liked horseradish, but then one day I had a craving for it. I've liked it ever since (at least in cocktail sauce form).

I've often had a similar thought about colors. Who's to say what I see when I see blue is the same thing you see when you see blue? The brain is a mysterious place.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Half my household has the genetic mutation that makes cilantro taste really horrid to them. When I am seriously dehydrated, I can drink sweetened iced tea and it won't taste horrid. As I'm drinking and hydrating, it starts to taste more and more disgusting. When I can't bear to drink the sickly sweet stuff anymore, I figure I'm sufficiently hydrated.

[conuly]

Hell, I *still* like sucking on lemons. Not that I can't taste the sour, I just happen to like the sour.

[bastardsword.livejournal.com]

I know some people can taste PTC, some can't-- another substance that I think is called benzoate something also plays a role. Basically, they found that people who said that one or the other tasted salty tended to like sauerkraut. So yup, certain foods will actually taste different.

-Kimothy

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced I can taste alcohol, despite what's always said about it being tasteless.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

I think it tastes differently to different people - and it isn't just taste, it can be texture and smell too. I dislike the taste of hominy (to me it tastes dusty) but most people can't taste that. And Danny can't stand celery, because to him it tastes bitter.

A lot of people say cilantro tastes like soap to them. I pity them - I love cilantro.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Cilantro is a genetic mutation. You can either taste it as okay or as soapy and icky, but it's purely genetic.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I wonder the same thing about color.

[conuly]

Behind the Attic Wall!

I was so thrilled when I read that book, because it had never occured to me that other people would ask that question.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was just that certain people don't like certain tastes while other people like them, just like certain people like some colours and certain people hate some colours. However, from reading the comments so far, it appears that things do taste differently for different people, so who knows?

[conuly]

On that note, pastel yellow is evil. *shudders*

Seriously, though, how do we know things taste different? We say that they do, but... if azarias says that cilantro "tastes like soap", how do we know if what she says soap tastes like is what I would say soap tastes like (and why is it that even very pretty smelling shampoos taste nasty?)

[beetlebomb.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. From what I understand, it's not just an issue of taste but an issue of texture too. Although she likes pizza my best friend can't stand anything else with melted cheese. She can't stand peanut butter or Nutella either, yet she loves peanut butter cups. My cousins from Holland loved meatballs, but they hate hamburgers, whereas to me a hamburger is basically a flattened meatball between two hunks of bread. THey don't like milkshakes either but they love ice cream. THere aren't many things I don't like although tripe and liver make me gag. TO me tripe is like trying to chew a dirty washcloth! I sometimes IM on the chatroom with an autistic girl who is so sensitive to the texture of food in her mouth that she can't stand eating and has to be tube-fed.

[conuly]

I know about texture issues. After years of training myself to like eggplant, and honestly enjoying the taste, the texture will still occasionally trip me up.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Some people have a genetic quirk that causes cilantro to taste precisely like soap.

I'm one of them.

[conuly]

Not nice-tasting soap, I take it? Because I love cilantro myself.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I can taste caffiene.

That's my special tasting power.

I dislike mushrooms-- they're rubbery and have a wrong taste to them, usually. Now, stuffed ones or properly fried ones are prety cool.

I don't like brussel sprouts; after the fist thin layers (which are mostly butter), they turn NASTY and they taste like how tires smell and how earwax (mine) tastes. I was a foolish child back then.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Learn something new every day. I would've guessed "no, things taste the same to all people; people just differ in what tastes they find agreeable, much as different people like, say, different styles of clothing even though a given dress looks the same to everyone", but most of the people here say there are biological reasons why people do experience the "same" taste differently.

[conuly]

Well, I knew about supertasters, but I didn't know about the rest of it. Which is why I ask things like this - though I honestly expected only a few answers.

[bridgetester.livejournal.com]

Quite possibly, yes, they do taste different. I read an article that said everyone's smell receptors are different (i.e. different sets of them are active, and no one has all of them active) and small is very closely related to taste.

[conuly]

Most of "taste" isn't taste at all, in fact. Depending on how you count them up, there are anywhere from 4-6 tastes, right? (Richness is one we generally don't include, and spiciness.... other people do though)

[beccak1961.livejournal.com]

My sister in law doesn't like honey. She once said it had a bitter taste, so I know we are tasting it the same.
A lot of people, my husband included, like splenda, can't tell it isn't sugar. For me it has this off taste in everything I try with it. So yes, I think maybe it does actually taste different.

[eclectic-1.livejournal.com]

Yes and no. They have proven that some tastes vary due to genetic diversity. I remember in biology, we all tasted a substance (I forget what it was) that most people said tasted like aspirin, but about 25% of the class could not taste it at all. They've also discovered some people are super-tasters, tasting things much more acutely, while some people are at the other end of the spectrum needing a lot of something for it to make an impression.

I was reading an article recently about how taste changes as you grow. Children tend to taste bitter much more strongly than adults, which would explain why parents have a hard time getting kids to eat vegetables.

Did you know a baby under three months can not taste sour? My oldest daughter used to love sucking on plain lemons, until those taste buds developed.

On the other hand, taste can be developed. I can't even begin to list the things I used to not like that I like now. One of the weirdest ones was horseradish. I never liked horseradish, but then one day I had a craving for it. I've liked it ever since (at least in cocktail sauce form).

I've often had a similar thought about colors. Who's to say what I see when I see blue is the same thing you see when you see blue? The brain is a mysterious place.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Half my household has the genetic mutation that makes cilantro taste really horrid to them. When I am seriously dehydrated, I can drink sweetened iced tea and it won't taste horrid. As I'm drinking and hydrating, it starts to taste more and more disgusting. When I can't bear to drink the sickly sweet stuff anymore, I figure I'm sufficiently hydrated.

[bastardsword.livejournal.com]

I know some people can taste PTC, some can't-- another substance that I think is called benzoate something also plays a role. Basically, they found that people who said that one or the other tasted salty tended to like sauerkraut. So yup, certain foods will actually taste different.

-Kimothy

[eofs.livejournal.com]

I'm convinced I can taste alcohol, despite what's always said about it being tasteless.

[griffen.livejournal.com]

I think it tastes differently to different people - and it isn't just taste, it can be texture and smell too. I dislike the taste of hominy (to me it tastes dusty) but most people can't taste that. And Danny can't stand celery, because to him it tastes bitter.

A lot of people say cilantro tastes like soap to them. I pity them - I love cilantro.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Cilantro is a genetic mutation. You can either taste it as okay or as soapy and icky, but it's purely genetic.

[kibbles.livejournal.com]

I wonder the same thing about color.

[conuly]

Behind the Attic Wall!

I was so thrilled when I read that book, because it had never occured to me that other people would ask that question.

[rainbow-goddess.livejournal.com]

I always thought it was just that certain people don't like certain tastes while other people like them, just like certain people like some colours and certain people hate some colours. However, from reading the comments so far, it appears that things do taste differently for different people, so who knows?

[conuly]

On that note, pastel yellow is evil. *shudders*

Seriously, though, how do we know things taste different? We say that they do, but... if azarias says that cilantro "tastes like soap", how do we know if what she says soap tastes like is what I would say soap tastes like (and why is it that even very pretty smelling shampoos taste nasty?)

[beetlebomb.livejournal.com]

Fascinating. From what I understand, it's not just an issue of taste but an issue of texture too. Although she likes pizza my best friend can't stand anything else with melted cheese. She can't stand peanut butter or Nutella either, yet she loves peanut butter cups. My cousins from Holland loved meatballs, but they hate hamburgers, whereas to me a hamburger is basically a flattened meatball between two hunks of bread. THey don't like milkshakes either but they love ice cream. THere aren't many things I don't like although tripe and liver make me gag. TO me tripe is like trying to chew a dirty washcloth! I sometimes IM on the chatroom with an autistic girl who is so sensitive to the texture of food in her mouth that she can't stand eating and has to be tube-fed.

[conuly]

I know about texture issues. After years of training myself to like eggplant, and honestly enjoying the taste, the texture will still occasionally trip me up.

[azarias.livejournal.com]

Some people have a genetic quirk that causes cilantro to taste precisely like soap.

I'm one of them.

[conuly]

Not nice-tasting soap, I take it? Because I love cilantro myself.

[lakidaa.livejournal.com]

I can taste caffiene.

That's my special tasting power.

I dislike mushrooms-- they're rubbery and have a wrong taste to them, usually. Now, stuffed ones or properly fried ones are prety cool.

I don't like brussel sprouts; after the fist thin layers (which are mostly butter), they turn NASTY and they taste like how tires smell and how earwax (mine) tastes. I was a foolish child back then.

[pne.livejournal.com]

Learn something new every day. I would've guessed "no, things taste the same to all people; people just differ in what tastes they find agreeable, much as different people like, say, different styles of clothing even though a given dress looks the same to everyone", but most of the people here say there are biological reasons why people do experience the "same" taste differently.

[conuly]

Well, I knew about supertasters, but I didn't know about the rest of it. Which is why I ask things like this - though I honestly expected only a few answers.