Why do most healthy foods taste bad?

[GrannySmith111]

Would you rather have some oreo cookies or a banana? Which one tastes yummier?

Obviously the oreo cookie, but the banana is much healthier for you. Oreos contain little to no nutrients and lots of sugar.

This seems to be true for most examples I can come up with. Most super healthy foods are never tasty like the foods most of us love. Burgers, fries, pizza, ice cream, chips, popcorn, soda, etc are all very tasty, but I doubt any of them are healthy for you.

Ever tried Kale? Spinach? Those leafy green vegetables that pack so many nutrients in them? I recently tried some Kale and it tastes pretty nasty.

Same thing with chicken. White meat vs dark meat in Rotisserie chicken. The chicken breast is probably the healthiest part. Lean meat with little fat. Good protein and nutrients compared to other parts of the chicken, which I find much tastier. The chicken breast on its own is so dry, bland, and just not as good as a part of the chicken with some more fat like the thighs, legs, or wings.

Anyone wonder the same thing?

 

[EveWasFramed]

One word...
Brain. It's that simple. You can retrain your brain (and your taste buds) to some extent.

 

[ringwood]

Some of the things you've listed can be healthy, just depends what you put on them. Obviously popcorn smothered in butter isn't the healthiest for you, but sprinkled with a little seasoning of some kind it's quite healthy and full of fiber. Same with pizza, it can be totally healthy depending on what you top it with.

It all boils down to personal preference, and for me, mood. Sometimes all I want is a nice, yummy loaded burger with everything on it, other times I'd love a veggie platter just as much...but it's all yummy.

 

[Stonelands]

I'm a vegetarian and Sushi is one of my favourite foods, very good for you and tastes great. I find that to be the case with a lot of Japanese food.

 

[Minus]

I do not consider myself to be one who eats healthy but i would prefer a banana to an oreo and if your chicken breast is dry then it is either old or was poorly prepared. You have me wondering if i eat better than i think.

 

[Walley]

I thought of this just the other day lol
but for me it was when I drank some unsweetened orange juice.
now.. I dunno where in the world they grow unsweetened oranges.. but I can go down south and pick a small yellow one off a tree and it will be sweeter than that fuel I drank there. it tasted more like grapefruit juice!
was supposed to be natural.. but it sure seemed unnatural to me. as if someone went out the their way to extract the natural sugar in it.

 

[Mr.YellowCat]

Why do most healthy food taste bad?

Because you haven't met a skilled cook


And for the first question: Oreo or banana?
Well, oreo...
But if we change it a little:
Oreo or pistachios?
Pistachioooooooos
And what about:
Oreo or mango?
Mango all the way

But healthy, unhealthy....The quality of preparation is really essential. And also, the quantity.
But talking about it, even chocolate is quite healthy.

 

[GrannySmith111]

I like some of the responses you guys have, but here's what I have to say

@ringwood I see what you're trying to say, but look at it this way. Which popcorn tastes better? I guarantee more people would go for the buttered popcorn. Same thing goes for white bread vs whole wheat bread. White bread tastes normal but if you've ever tried whole grain bread, it's not as good.

I've also heard that mangoes, bananas, and oranges aren't as good as they seem because of their glucose content. Plus, these fruits don't have some of the nutrients you need or have less.

The healthier alternatives to the foods I listed above will always take away quantity, or taste. Oatmeal raisin cookies to chocolate chip cookies. Oatmeal raisin is healthier but tastes worse than the yummy chocolate chip. Would a veggie burger taste nearly as good as a classic beef one?

I bet 90% of America would love to have a diet just filled with pizza, hamburgers, ice cream, hot dogs, as opposed to more of the healthier foods like kale. I mean kale tastes AWFUL but I doubt anyone can get fat on a diet full of kale.

Why do the nasty foods have to be healthy

 

[aspoonfulofhunny]

I wish I knew...

 

[Dexter]

Most things we would consider as unhealthy food, are the ones with a lot of fat or sugar.
I once heard that sugar and fat are flavor enhancers and that this is the reason for most people preferring the unhealthy food.

 

[GrannySmith111]

Exactly. Sodium too. Most "healthy" versions of popular foods take away these elements or replace them with substitutes. "Diet" versions of soda just use artificial sugars, although I don't think it's much healthier anyways.

 

[Midnight Sky]

Peaches, Apples, Mangos, Lettice, Celery, Broccoli, tastes bad?

I JK. I get it. Because all the sweeteners are removed.

 

[EveWasFramed]

The sweeteners, chemicals, etc in a lot of these products act like drugs to our dopamine receptors. The more yummy the food, the better it makes us feel when we eat it. The endorphin rush is almost like getting a small "high."
For some people, the sugar/fat/salt has an opiate-like effect on the brain.
It's also why some people reach for the chips and/or the Ben and Jerry's when they're depressed or stressed out. All that fat, sugar, salt, etc releases those "feel good" endorphins into our brains and (at least for a while) we feel better.

 

[MTrip]

Eve brings up good points. I might add that there is an evolutionary reason for that. Before humans made the Great Mistake & settled down to start farming, access to food did not usually involve things loaded with fats or sugars in the modern manufactured way. Food supplies could be erratic at times also. Thus, when primitive man found sweet things (like berries) or fatty things (like a young deer), that meant we were living well. Those who liked to eat sugary &/or fatty things survived long enough to reproduce; those who didn't, lost the genetic lottery once too often.

After farming & population density in settled societies led to city-states such as Ur & Lagash, with their class division into rich ruling elites & poor downtrodden masses, the trait was probably enhanced even more: Most people in those days didn't get three squares a day, let alone jelly doughnuts or anything with mozzarella on it. In such an existence, it makes sense to go for sweets & fatty edibles.

Fast-forward 6,000 years or so & look at what we have now. Industrialized (& subsidized) food production is drowning us in a sea of cheap carbohydrates, sugars, & added salt & lard to everything. We evolved tastes for such substances when they were scarce. Now they are plentiful & they're killing us.

The only solution is to reduce the fat & sugar intake as much as you can. I've been gradually doing that. Nutritious food can taste good; you just have to cook it right. And cut down on the sugar & saturated fats gradually. I don't drink soda that much anymore & rarely ever fry anything.

 

[EveWasFramed]

The only solution is to reduce the fat & sugar intake as much as you can. I've been gradually doing that. Nutritious food can taste good; you just have to cook it right. And cut down on the sugar & saturated fats gradually. I don't drink soda that much anymore & rarely ever fry anything.[/color][/font]

Exactly. Ive been doing this for the past three months or so. Though I do still get cravings for things I shouldnt eat (and do sometimes eat them, lol) I've found that the less I eat of the bad foods, the less I want them.
As I said in my earlier post, I think you really CAN retrain your brain when it comes to what you like.
Im an ice cream fan - but I haven't gotten the urge for ice cream in about a month. I really do believe that the less junk you eat, the less junk you crave. Or that seems to be in my case anyway.

 

[Walley]

what I don't like, are things like I referred to in my previous post. like no-sugar orange juice.
they aren't just "not adding" sugar.. they are removing the natural sugar from things like that, because oranges straight off a tree are a lot sweeter than that stuff. I honestly don't see a purpose for it.

[video=youtube]

 

[lonelyfairy]

Healthy food is so yummy, but kind of expensive here where I live... .___. I would definitely buy it more if I could. :/

 

[Okiedokes]

I have thought similar before about certain foods. However there are some realllllly yummy healthy foods. I have found that if I've eaten foods that aren't that healthy for a long period of time, I start craving the healthier foods. I prefer to have a mix, that way I know I'm getting the good stuff and I can get away with the other not so healthy foods.

 

[LeaningIntoTheMuse]

It's the sugar.

And to be honest, eating Oreos is like eating just packets of sugar. Same with drinking soda.

 

[bender22]

Most of the healthy food I eat tastes fine. I've learnt how to make healthy meals taste good and my taste buds have probably adjusted because I've been eating healthy foods for so long. Sure I still probably prefer the taste of chocolate chip cookies or potato chips but I always enjoy my chicken salads, tuna, eggs and green smoothies.

And personally I'd rather the long term benefits of healthy eating than the short term pleasure of eating junk food.