Retrain your taste buds to secretly love vegetables, says gut health guru Dr Megan Rossi:

You know fruits and vegetables are good for you, and you know you need to eat more: the problem is taste.

If that excuse sounds familiar to you, you’re not alone: ​​taste is one of the most common reasons people at the clinic tell me to stop eating fruits and vegetables.

The negative perception of taste probably largely explains why most people in the UK eat an average of three and a half servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

Even my wife, who is a family doctor, was not convinced about fruit and vegetables when we first met. Then I applied my “science” to it – I hope it works for you too.

But before we get into the science, anything can taste bad if not prepared properly. Think chewy, dry, overcooked steak.

Yes, some of the secrets to eating more fruits and vegetables lie in how we prepare them – there’s a world of difference between cooked Brussels sprouts and creamy pesto stuffed with Brussels sprouts, nuts and Parmesan.

Our taste buds can develop so that you can truly enjoy fruits and vegetables. not convinced? Remember when you hated the taste of coffee as a kid? You may not be able to start the day without it

Now onto the science behind manipulating our taste preferences. I say “manipulation” because our taste buds can develop so that you can truly enjoy fruits and vegetables. not convinced? Remember when you hated the taste of coffee as a kid? You probably can’t start the day without it.

It doesn’t take long to “retrain” our sense of taste, either: our taste buds, which are essentially a group of taste cells, renew about every ten days.

In fact, a 2019 study in Belgium reported that consuming more high-fiber vegetables for just two weeks reduced people’s cravings for sweet, salty and fatty foods and enjoyed vegetables more.

You won’t be surprised if you hear me say that bacteria also play a role.

In this case, the mouth is our microbiota – the microbes that live in our mouth, including bacteria, fungi, and even some viruses.

Just as microbes ferment grapes into wine (and mouth-wateringly rich flavors), they do similar things to eating in the mouth.

Do you know?

The calorie details on food labels are not as accurate as you might believe.

Take almonds, for example, which studies show have 30 percent fewer calories than those listed.

I’ll explain what’s going on in next week’s column.

Studies show almonds provide 30% fewer calories than claimed

Many of the different flavors in wine are due not only to different grapes but also to the types of microbes that carry out the fermentation.

Similarly, it is the difference in our mouth microbes that likely explains at least some of the differences in taste perception among humans. Different microbes in the mouth produce different flavors when we eat the same foods, such as vegetables.

The good news is that through diet we can change what lives in our mouth and therefore some of the flavors produced.

This reinforces what I’ve seen over and over in the clinic: changing our diet also changes our taste preferences.

As a result, even if you don’t like the taste of fruits and vegetables right now, you will love them. You just need to get started! And if that means sneaking them into your diet for the first few weeks until your taste buds get the idea, I agree.

But what about the cost of fruits and vegetables? This is another common barrier that keeps people from eating more, and when processed foods are this cheap and the cost of living is skyrocketing, fresh produce can seem expensive.

Ways to get around this include buying in season (and buying in bulk if possible, then freezing).

And don’t end up with frozen fruits and vegetables—they’re packed with nutrients because they freeze quickly when harvested. At the end of the day, inexpensive products are still rich in fiber and nutrients. In some cases, it may contain more nutrients than on the shelf. Research in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that levels of anthocyanins (plant chemicals with antioxidant properties) in blackberries increase as they go from ripe to overripe.

And don’t forget canned tomatoes, olives, pickles, artichokes, beans, and legumes (but check the label to avoid adding sugar or salt).

You’ll notice that I didn’t say ‘you should have five a day’.

That’s because diversity is the key message: try to expand the range of plant foods you eat, because that way you get the widest range of polyphenols, plant compounds with antioxidant powers (which help fight disease and help you feel and look). great – yes, polyphenols are also linked to reducing facial wrinkles).

Here are some delicious ways to add extra fruit and vegetables without noticing the difference in taste. Believe me, they work!

• Do you like smoothies? Add some frozen cauliflower florets (you can buy these precooked and frozen at most grocery stores). They are rich in sulforaphane, which has shown anticancer benefits (in animal studies). It also gives the smoothie a deliciously creamy texture and you can’t even taste it.
• No stew or casserole should be complete without adding another vegetable. Make it a habit to include rotten or wilted vegetables to save your wallet and the environment.
• For those who love mac ‘n’ cheese, mash a cup of cooked pumpkin in the sauce. Beta-carotene in pumpkin supports immune function as well as providing fiber.
• Add a can of lentils to the Bolognese batter – the family won’t even know! (Mix the lentils first for an added look.) This gives the dish a dose of prebiotics that the “good” gut bacteria love to feed on.
• Grate half a zucchini into an omelet or scrambled egg – it won’t affect the satisfaction of the eggs.
• While the muffins are baking, grate a carrot and reduce the liquid by about 1/3 cup. The extra fiber can help lower blood sugar.
• For Friday night pizzas (order it or make it yourself), slice it over a fresh tomato for extra skin-friendly lycopene and vitamin C.
• For spaghetti carbonara, halve the cream and mix with the equivalent weight of tofu (available at most grocery stores). Made from fermented soybeans, tofu contains phytoestrogens linked to lowering the risk of breast cancer and provides a wonderfully silky texture.
• Add a cup of frozen vegetables or half a can of lentils to your next Indian meal for 6 grams of extra fiber. After a few months of training my husband does this automatically. His wife’s proud moment.
• For a delicious carrot cake flavor, grate a carrot and crumble the hazelnuts into your puree, plus add fiber and omega-3s for a healthy heart.
• Replace half of the fat or butter in your next pie with the same weight of baked apples.
• Add flavor and fiber to your next summer salad with some goji berries, cranberries or pomegranate seeds.

TRY THIS: FRUIT AND VEGETABLES TO THE LAKE

In addition to extra fruit and vegetables, each serving of these pancakes provides about 6 g of fiber (one-fifth your daily requirement).

Fa 8 (SERVICE 2)

contents

• 3 large eggs
• 1 ripe banana (about 100 g)
• 50 g of porridge
• 100 g boiled sweet potatoes
• Any oil of your choice for frying

METHOD

Put the eggs, banana, oatmeal, and sweet potato in a blender. Blend for 1-2 minutes until the mixture is smooth and slightly fluffy on the surface. Then, heat a large pan with olive oil over low heat and pour about 60 ml of pancake batter. Cook over low heat for 2-3 minutes or until the top of the pancake starts to boil and the edges are dry – it is now ready to flip. Cook for a few minutes on the other side. Delicious with the ingredients of your choice.