Grapefruit and salt go great together—really! Don’t believe us? Here’s how certain foods affect your sense of taste.
1
/
6
Artichokes sweeten water
A chemical in the vegetable called cynarin latches on to the sweet receptors on your tongue without activating them. If you drink water after eating artichokes, the cynarin molecules wash away from the receptors. This sudden release simulates a sensation of sweetness, though it’s only a phantom taste.
2
/
6
Yogurt hampers chocolate
Yogurt has an acidic pH (4), and when basic chocolate compounds enter this acidic environment, they dissolve and lose their characteristic flavor. The same loss of taste occurs if you bite into chocolate after eating yogurt, though your saliva’s pH slightly buffers the effect.
3
/
6
Salt blocks grapefruit’s tartness
It may sound unpalatable, but try salting your grapefruit. You’re in for a sweet surprise. These are two foods that affect your sense of taste when combined. The fruit has both bitter and sweet compounds. Salt blocks the bitter compounds, allowing you to detect the sweet flavors more easily.
4
/
6
Pine nuts cause metal mouth
When it comes to common foods that affect your sense of taste, this one may take the prize for the worst possible reaction. In what has been dubbed “pine mouth” by the Food and Drug Administration, a consistent metallic taste appears within 12 to 48 hours of consuming pine nuts and could last for weeks.
Though the reason for the condition is unclear, it can happen to those who have never had an adverse reaction. It is not an allergy and does not involve mold, and it doesn’t matter how many pine nuts you’ve eaten—even a single seed could trigger this nightmare condition. As if that weren’t bad enough, sugar may enhance the bitterness.
5
/
6
Vinaigrette throws wine off-kilter
Salad is difficult to pair with wine because your taste buds adapt to the sourness of vinaigrette. After eating it, you will be able to detect only sourness that’s higher in concentration than that of the dressing. Many wines depend on a delicate balance of sweet and sour, but after your taste buds adapt to vinaigrette, you will taste only a seemingly overbearing sweetness in the wine.
6
/
6
Stevia triggers bitterness
This zero-calorie sweetener reacts with your taste buds in a different way than sugar does. While sugar triggers only sweet receptors in the mouth, stevia triggers sweet and bitter receptors. This could leave you with a bitter taste if you add too much stevia to, say, your cup of coffee. Some people’s genetics may make them more prone to a long-lasting aftertaste.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’re committed to producing high-quality content by writers with expertise and experience in their field in consultation with relevant, qualified experts. We rely on reputable primary sources, including government and professional organizations and academic institutions as well as our writers’ personal experiences where appropriate. For this piece on foods that affect your sense of taste, we verified all facts and data and backed them with credible sourcing, and we’ll revisit them over time to ensure they remain accurate and up to date. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
Sources:
- John Hayes, professor of food science and director of the Sensory Evaluation Center at Penn State University
- Devin Peterson, professor of food, agricultural and environmental sciences at The Ohio State University
- Wine Folly: “DIY Food and Wine Pairing Experiment”
- BBC: “How to hack your taste buds”
- FDA: “Economically Motivated Adulteration (Food Fraud)”
- Food and Chemical Toxicology: “An investigational report into the causes of pine mouth events in US consumers”
- Penn State: “Research shows taste perception of bitter foods depends on genetics”
Originally Published in Reader's Digest
