Your Hatred of Vegetables Could Be Due To Genetics

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  via Befit

  Imagine (or remember) this scenario: you're at a dinner table with your parents and siblings. Everyone is eating the meal, which has hearty helpings of green vegetables (because they're full of nutrients) but whenever you think about eating the greens, it makes you gag. Your siblings call you a sissy, your parents label you as a picky eater. 

  But that may be far from the truth. You might, in fact, be what scientists call a "super-taster", meaning that you have a genetic predisposition to taste food differently to other people. 

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  via Men Shrine

  Super-tasters have a heightened sensitivity to bitterness, a common characteristic in those healthy green vegetables like brussels sprouts, broccoli, kale, bok choi, argula, watercress, cabbage and cauliflower. This is because super-tasters can taste the sulfur flavor more intensely, especially if the vegetables have been overcooked. 

  
  

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  via One Passionate Writer - Wordpress

  But our sense of taste relies on more than genes. The receptors on our taste buds are programmed to respond to five flavors: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (the savory flavor in soy sauce, mushrooms and aged cheese). 

  But we also have the experience of eating food, which involves the smell, touch, temperature and texture of the food. It's almost impossible to separate these sensations from one another - if the texture of a certain food triggers your gag reflex, it doesn't matter what it tastes like. You won't be able to, or want to, eat it. 

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  via SBS

  While we have more than 25 taste receptors in our mouths, one in particular may contribute to your love/hate relationship with vegetables: the TAS2R38, which has two variants called AVI and PAV. About half of us get one of each, meaning that while we can taste bitter and sweet, we're not particularly sensitive to bitter food. 

  Another 25% of people are called non-tasters. Because they got two copies of AVI, they're not sensitive to bitterness: they might actually find it sweeter than other people would. 

  The last 25% have two copies of PAV, which - you guessed it - makes you extremely sensitive to bitter tastes. That's you, super-tasters. 

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  via Choose Veg

  Sadly for super-tasters, green vegetables are nutrient powerhouses, with heaps of vitamin A, vitamin C and phytonutrients, which contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties, among other benefits. Because these vegetables are so good for you, scientists are attempting to create less bitter vegetables. And there's been some success: the brussels sprouts we have today are a lot less bitter than those that our parents and grandparents ate. 

  
  

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  via Digest

  So, what can you do if you're a super-taster? Don't write off vegetables, just learn to prepare them differently. Roasting vegetables brings out the natural sweetness in them, and cooking them with strong flavors like garlic can help to mask their bitterness. 

  Unfortunately, super-tasters will have to put in a little more effort than everyone else when it comes to preparing delicious and healthy food - but at least next time someone calls you a picky eater, you can blame it on your unfortunate genetic makeup.

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