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When I've tried some old favorite foods, they just don't taste good at all...

And the difference of how something used to taste, and how it tastes now is really jarring.

Have you had any experiences where old favorites don't taste anything like you remember???

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yes.....leptin receptors on tongue reset. You will also note that when you eat something bad like a canola pufa you will notice it right away. – The Quilt Jul 25 2011 at 0:51
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My taste buds have reset also! I used to love sherbet and it's a Ychh now. Fortunately, fresh fruit now tastes as good as I used to think chips and sherbet tasted. – Nance Jul 25 2011 at 4:26
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Like The Quilt said- I'd only cut veg oils out of my diet for about 2 weeks when my husband talked me into going to McD's. I could instantly taste the nasty oil (never had before). Many, many experiences of "OMG, I can't believe I used to eat this!" since then. :-) – WordVixen Jul 25 2011 at 5:42

20 Answers

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Any bakery items (cake, bread, cupcakes, etc), even high quality stuff, taste dry and grainy, and I have learned to know that gastric distress is on the way after just one bite. The icing on these is way too sweet and the sugar rush gives me a headache.

Flourless chocolate cake, formerly a favorite, tastes ok but I'm just not as interested.

I think I can taste flour and starches in sauces, and it doesn't taste good, like I recently had chicken saltimbocca at a fancy italian resetaurant and the sauce just tasted like paste. I can't eat take-out Chinese or Thai food because of all of the additivea (probably MSG and food starch).

High quality ice cream, especially home made, is still ok, and I get a hankering for it a couple of times a week, more for the fat than the sugar I think.

After a few months I am losing my taste for preserved meats (i.e. salami, pepperoni, etc) and I can't bite into a hot dog without gagging, it tastes like smooshy chemicals. I think I am also losing my taste for typical supermarkt chicken, which tastes bland and gives me a headache.

Intereatingly, high quality thin crust pizza is ok if eaten in modest amounts and infrequently. I can't even stand the smell of Domino's or Pizza Hut pizza, but I made home made squid pizza recently for the family and in a weak moment had a couple of slices, and it was ok to eat and digest, maybe because of the presence of a fair amount of good oil and fat. Even so I think I'll avoid it in the future.

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I used to love Coke & Dr. Pepper pop, now the coke tastes like battery acid and the Dr. Pepper tastes sickly sweet - both are just yuck now and I can't stand even the smell.

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Same here, they both taste awful to me now. I used to drink 3 Dr. Peppers each day. – Chickenosaurus Rex Jul 25 2011 at 0:47
Dr. Pepper tastes like cough syrup. Used to drink it all the time. As many or more than Travis. – No more. Jul 25 2011 at 0:49
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diet coke tastes now tastes like ammonia to me. – Howardlover Jul 25 2011 at 14:03
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Well, the other day I had ice cream (homemade cherry chocolate)- the first taste in a year and a half. It. Was. Amazing. Seriously, I felt like I was praying, no, worshiping, at the Church of Ice Cream. Most of the rest of the crap I left behind though without a backward glance.

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Yes. Bread, even good french bread, is completely lost on me now. Even slathered on butter, its just meh.

Ice cream, however, is another story :)

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I'd rather just eat the butter :) – Travis Isaacs Jul 25 2011 at 17:52
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Tomato-based pasta sauce from a jar or can tastes terrible to me now. It tastes sharply of chemicals. It's gross. I love fresh tomatoes raw, grilled, etc.

Corn oil tastes metallic and nasty.

Sodas taste too sweet to me. I used to be a pop-a-holic.

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Ditto on the pasta sauce... My wife likes the jarred stuff but it tastes like sugar and chemicals to me now. – UncleLongHair Jul 25 2011 at 12:57
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Most sweets are way, way too sweet for me. Homemade ice cream, with far less sugar than any recipe calls for, is much better than the stuff I can buy.

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Yep! I used to love Little Debbie cosmic brownies. I had a bite of one the other day and it was so gross! It tasted like sugared plastic. I can't believe I used to binge on those things! I'm hoping eventually the same thing happens with french fries and ice cream, but so far they still taste delicious, so I try to stay far away from them.

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Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. ;) – gilliebean Jul 25 2011 at 0:40
My thing used to be Hostess Cupcakes. – Chickenosaurus Rex Jul 26 2011 at 1:25
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Reeces peanut butter cups... My old favorite. Now I just don't like them at all.

My home made sugar free ice cream and my home made sugar free cheesecakes... those are my cheats. That and fruit. But I do allow myself a limited amount of dairy.

Remember, it's a way of life, not a cult... and there was never a cave baby that didn't get it's start with milk. :)

Definitely a paleo/primal food.

That said, I have an autoimmune condition that dairy is less than helpful for so I have to keep it very limited. :(

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Human breast milk = paleo. Cow breast milk for humans = not so much. – Pale-O-Girl Jul 25 2011 at 8:37
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I wish I didn't like Reese's PB cups any more; they torment me still! :( – Jules K Jul 25 2011 at 12:14
I can't get them where I live but I'm certain if I saw them, I'd buy them!! – Kelly Jul 25 2011 at 19:31
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I wrote a post about chocolate a few days ago. I ate a couple squares of lower quality chocolate and was shocked at how crappy it tasted.

It is incredible what junk we were all used to eating.

Sometimes I walk down the street past a restaurant and I can just smell the soup powder and chemical smell wafting out the door.

If we plucked someone from the middle of the jungle - someone who eats pristine food - and started feeding him cheeze whiz, KFC and told him to wash it all down with Dr. Pepper (which I used to love), I wonder what he'd think and feel.

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I can't believe it but dark chocolate now gives me a bad stomach. I used to be ok with a couple squares of dark chocolate, but no more... – UncleLongHair Jul 25 2011 at 12:58
Even if it is really fine quality chocolate? I have no problem with that. – Glither Jul 25 2011 at 14:40
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I used to like Kraft Mac and Cheese. The other day I was making some for my teenage daughter and I thought the smell was awful. No thoughts of tasting it. It smelled that bad. I now enjoy fruits and vegetables more than I ever did before though.

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I wish I had the same reaction, I wonder if its more mental than anything? – daveman Jul 25 2011 at 10:59
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I used to love baklava which is a Greek (and Middle Eastern) dessert with filo pastry, nuts (usually pistachios, almonds or walnuts) and honey. For old time's sake, I had one on Saturday and it tasted awfully sweet. My palate has most definitely changed - I just don't crave sweets anymore except for some very subtly sweet homemade biscuits and chocolates.

What made the baklava experience worse was the anxiety, rebound hunger and heart palps after eating it - I'm a recovering hypoglycemic. That proved to me how careful I need to be with sugar.

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would love to figure out how to make baklava paleo style! one of my old time favs! – Kelly Jul 25 2011 at 19:32
god yeah! i imagine there must be a way to do it. i just can't risk the blood sugar blues though at all :( – sallycinnamon Jul 27 2011 at 14:00
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After a year of cooking almost exclusively with pastured lard, tallow and coconut oil, anything cooked in vegetable oil tastes horrible. Desserts made with white sugar are cloyingly sweet, as well - my last dessert was fresh peaches and plums tossed with fresh thyme and shaved Manchego cheese, drizzled with dark chocolate balsamic vinegar. It was divine.

Just the thought of bread makes me queasy.

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I don't crave sweets and empty carbs like I used to, but they still taste good to me if I have them. My son realllly wanted some Oreo's a while back and I said okay because I have always been an 80/20 guy, especially with my kids.

I dipped some Oreo's into some ice cold whole milk and I tell you what, my friends....that was blissful. I didn't crave them. But they were there and I was there. It just kinda happened. I sound like an a adulterer...

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My taste hasn't changed at all.

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ditto, still crippled by Oreo's – daveman Jul 25 2011 at 10:59
Do you still have sugar or sweet foods (i.e. diet soda) on the regular? After quitting both sugar and sweet foods cold turkey for just a couple of weeks, I find them way too sweet. – UncleLongHair Jul 25 2011 at 12:59
In fairness, sweets were never a big deal for me. I used to drink diet Coke but gave that up months ago. I love chocolate but only the very darkest kinds (~90%). When my non-Paleo roommate makes toast, I love the smell. I'm sure it would be delicious. But not worth the discomfort. I eat potatoes, and some beans, white rice and corn tortillas. None of these taste disgusting, boring, or any other adjectives that Paleos use. I just make sure to stay well under 100 grams of carb per day. – Harry Jul 25 2011 at 22:57
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Treats with sugar and fruit taste sweeter. I notice salt more in foods that I don't cook myself. And Hershey's milk chocolate all of a sudden has a waxy texture.

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Although I eat fruit, it tastes way to sweet to me. Grapefruit it the only one that tastes normally sweet, instead of over the top. Oranges are off the menu. I used to be a cookie & chocolate milk fiend.

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I have always had strong senses for some reason, now I can detect flavors and smells even more....sometimes thats a good thing, other times its a problem (as I go running out of a room gagging).

I'm the person who they always send the wine to for tasting!! yum!!

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for some of you whose tastes did change, how long would you say it took? I went a week and some tortilla chips were still good at a mexican restaurant. I'm staying away from pretty much everything non-primal for a month (been two weeks other than the chips) in hopes it will cure my taste buds. I fear right now if I did try something naughty I would still enjoy it and crave it.

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I tapered my way into paleo/primal, removing one bad item at a time. I would say it was about 3 months into it that I first noticed how nasty commercial tomato sauce tastes. Perhaps the time frame is shorter if you go cold turkey. – Chickenosaurus Rex Jul 26 2011 at 1:29
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Milk chocolate is nasty and sweet...

Dark chocolate all the way!

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Almost every food I missed, just tastes empty and hollow without that "rush" of processed carbs that my body used to get.

The only food I still miss and still tastes good to me, is thick cut french fries when at a bar, and you know it's fried in crap oil.

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