Gentle, powerfully comforting, the chestnuts spoke of freshly baked rolls and hot potatoes, of the burnt edges of a Christmas cake, of sweet apple, and of the high old trees in Kent where they were harvested.”
― Feast
It all sounds good, but I prefer savory dishes. Yes, I’ll take a little dessert, but I need to finish it off with something salty. Why is that? And why do millions of people crave sugar instead of salt?
Genetics?
Genetics certainly plays a role, at least according to the National Library of Medicine. There are genetic receptors, different in each individual, that distinguish among taste qualities: sweet, sour, bitter, salty, and umami, or savory. The number of sensors varies from one person to another and exist not only in the tongue, but also in other areas of your mouth. That’s another rabbit hole to go down another time. An abundance of salt receptors could assist an individual in reaching the desired quota of that taste quality more quickly than someone else. That is, a small quantity of salt is enough.
Also, remember that tasting involves more than just our taste buds; sight, touch, and smell play a part. You may have heard that we eat with our eyes before we lift our forks. And we’d all agree that we avoid some foods simply because of the texture–the sense of touch. Our olfactory senses chime in as well, and we don’t always interpret certain odors the same as the people we live with. On a few occasions after I’ve cooked oatmeal, my husband would swear he smells bacon. It makes sense that if we don’t prefer the same textures, don’t recognize the difference between the smell of bacon and oatmeal, and don’t find the same foods appealing, we won’t make the same choices.
- Food preferences begin to develop in the womb.
- Sweet foods release dopamine; savory foods produce satisfaction.
- People with the TAS1R gene are less sensitive to sugar and are therefore drawn to eat more of it.
- Our food preferences change as we age. What we enjoyed in midlife may fall off the list in the years to come, due in part to losing receptors. They just age out.
- A survey showed that adults in Western nations (Great Britain/Germany) prefer sweets over savory at a rate that was almost double that of Eastern nations (China/South Korea).
Environment?
Yes, there are genetic issues, but our environments matter, too. How Stuff Works lays out a few reasons. The first is that we generally eat what we’re given, at least as children. That’s assuming parents who do not allow their offspring to run the household. Second, and this is a big one, when we want comfort food, we make a selection that, by definition, makes us feel good. Our choice may well be connected to a time or place that we remember fondly.
As an example, I love fried potatoes, stewed potatoes, and white beans, to name a few savory foods on my A list. Whether or not my receptors lean in the savory direction, my list might be connected to who fed me those foods and the memories connected to those meals. Was frequency part of the equation? If I didn’t have certain items often, did I want them more?
As to not choosing salty over sweet, or vice versa, it is not outside the realm of possibility that we simply weren’t introduced to certain foods at a time when we were cementing our preferences.
Sweet or Savory - by the Numbers
Is there an overall preference in this country for one or the other? Hard to get an accurate number, but Dairy Processing says I’m in the minority. Apparently, 58% of the U.S. population prefers sweet foods over savory. The article goes on to say that the love of sugary foods is an ancient survival technique. If a food tasted sweet, it was safe to eat and provided energy. Since I’m only a casual sweets fan, does that mean I wouldn’t have made the cut if I’d been part of a primitive tribe? Or is this simply true to form, since I am always low-energy?
You might think this piece is an effort to blame DNA and early childhood development for food preferences. Nah. That’s not it. I’m big on accountability. I am just curious about reasons for the choices we make. As adults, we have agency, regardless of what our genetic coding or our childhood experiences dictate. We can try new dishes as we choose or ditch foods we were compelled to eat as children. Maybe I’ll never have a sweet tooth, and I’m fine with that. Maybe I’ll always feel obligated to finish a bag of salt & vinegar potato chips once I open it. Maybe I’ll take Mark Twain’s advice. “Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.”
I have no preference. I really don’t like to eat as sitting down to enjoy a meal is a waste of time for me. Dining with friends is enjoyable because of the company. Otherwise, I’d rather just take a pill if there were one that would make me feel full and give me all the nutrients I need to survive.
Sigh. Yet another preference I hadn’t considered? I kind of understand your indifference to dining, as I feel the same about sleep. It’s a waste of time. Necessary, but a waste.