{"id":2426,"date":"2016-12-04T03:37:08","date_gmt":"2016-12-04T03:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/?p=2426"},"modified":"2016-12-04T03:39:47","modified_gmt":"2016-12-04T03:39:47","slug":"diet-hopes-day-10-barrier-4-what-if-i-dont-like-my-healthier-milk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookhappylivehealthy.org\/blog\/diet-hopes-day-10-barrier-4-what-if-i-dont-like-my-healthier-milk\/","title":{"rendered":"Diet Hopes Day 10, Barrier #4: What If I Don’t Like My Healthier Almond Milk?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"taste-buds-change\"<\/h3>\n

Hopeful news and tips for dealing with uncooperative taste buds<\/h3>\n

The last two posts described how I successfully battled Recipe Frustration<\/a> and Cooking Tedium<\/a>.\u00a0 As I did so and, bit by bit, improved my milk-making process, I became ever more confident and comfortable that I could weave it into my food life pretty easily.\u00a0 Mission accomplished, right?\u00a0 Except for one little thing:\u00a0 I didn’t really like my healthier almond milk that much!<\/em>\u00a0 It was a little embarrassing that after all my efforts, I preferred the store-bought milk with its artificial additives!<\/p>\n

Taste may sound like a silly concern against the “big, important” concern of healthy eating.\u00a0 But actually, taste is no small matter.\u00a0 In fact, good taste is really, really important when it comes to eating healthfully, and don’t let anyone guilt you into thinking that “real” healthful eaters endure gustatory sacrifice on a daily basis.\u00a0 In truth, eating healthfully can and should be a delightful experience.\u00a0 That’s the only way we’ll stick to if for the long haul.<\/p>\n

But this doesn’t mean you’re free to eat only foods that have immediate appeal to your taste buds.\u00a0 Becoming a happy and healthy eater is a two-way street that requires active effort on your part.\u00a0 Let me explain:<\/p>\n

Remember that immediate appeal is the point of most ready-made foods. They are designed and formulated to immediately appeal to the lowest taste denominator so as many people as possible will immediately like, buy and eat them in large (and profitable) quantities.\u00a0 Food manufacturers invest millions and millions of dollars and years and years of research to develop products with just the right flavors, mouth feel, smell, crunch, taste and appearance to be irresistible.<\/p>\n

Eating food with this kind of “dumbed down” flavor warps our taste buds.\u00a0 We become incapable of appreciating the clean, real flavor of healthful foods.\u00a0 So at best, real foods may taste different and strange.\u00a0 At worst, you may not like them at all.<\/p>\n

It’s like being accustomed to racing through easy-to-read formula novels.\u00a0 Appreciating a piece of serious fiction generally won’t happen automatically; you’ll need to slow down and readjust your reading speed and mindset to appreciate its depth and complexity.<\/p>\n

Similarly, we have a role to play when it comes to healthy eating.\u00a0 You can’t sit idly by, waiting for healthy food to come along that will immediately appeal to you.\u00a0 Rather, you must put out a little effort to challenge your taste buds.\u00a0 Try new foods several times, giving your taste buds time to adapt.\u00a0 And bit by bit, over time, they will!<\/p>\n

It’s important to know that our taste buds are not fixed like our eye color and height.\u00a0 They can and will change and adapt to appreciate and eventually prefer the clean flavor of real, whole, healthful foods.\u00a0 Read more about how “You’re Not Stuck with the Taste Buds You Got”<\/a> and how to “Build Your Tasting Muscles<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Indeed, this is exactly what is happening for me.\u00a0 I’m now on my fourth batch of almond milk and I’m definitely beginning to acquire a taste for it.\u00a0 With that positive start, I’m committed to continue since it’s so rewarding to be able to avoid the artificial ingredients that I was downing at a rapid pace.\u00a0 Certainly it also helps that I’m doing a better job making my own milk–remembering the salt, using the nut milk bag to better strain it, etc.\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve also begun to play with some spice and flavor additions–but more on that later.<\/p>\n

For now, isn’t it interesting that once again, time plays an important role in making a diet change, just as it did with the previous steps.\u00a0 If the thought of even a small time commitment makes you panic, however, don’t despair!\u00a0 Sliding into an unhealthy eating habit probably happened over time–so digging out will take some time (and patience), too.\u00a0 Rest easy that you’re not experiencing anything abnormal–and that change is absolutely doable.<\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0 There may even come a time when you don’t just like<\/em> your new, healthier options but you actually prefer<\/em> them.\u00a0 I was on vacation recently and had to drink store-bought almond milk again.\u00a0 I was surprised at how readily I noticed the “tinny” taste of the natural flavors–and craved my homemade milk!<\/p>\n

How about you?<\/h3>\n