Say what?! Along my own personal journey of weeding sugar out of my diet, I’ve recently noticed something. When I have sugar it tastes so much sweeter. I thought I was imagining this new phenomenon but as it kept recurring on the odd occasion I might ‘borrow’ one of our child’s sweets from a party bag, I found I couldn’t finish the sweet and ended up discarding it. So I set about researching whether I was imagining this or that perhaps my taste buds had changed.
So it turns out I’m not imagining this new sensation; sugar intake can actually have a positive impact on your taste buds. Below are 5 things I've discovered when you reduce your sugar intake.
1. You'll Be More Sensitive to Flavours
When you consume a lot of sugar, your taste buds become desensitised to other flavours. This is because the sweetness of sugar overrides other flavours, making them harder to detect. By reducing your sugar intake, you'll be more sensitive to other flavours and aromas, making food more enjoyable overall.
2. You'll Taste Sugar More Intensely When You Do Eat It
Hey presto! Consuming large amounts of sugar numbs your taste buds to its sweetness. This is why many people who eat a lot of sugary foods often crave even more sweetness. However, when you cut back on sugar, you'll find that when you do eat something sweet, it tastes much sweeter than it did before. In other words, you'll be able to enjoy sweetness in moderation instead of always craving more and more.
3. Bitter Foods Will Taste Less Bitter
Too much sugar can make bitter foods taste even more bitter. This is because sugar masks the natural bitterness of some foods. When you reduce your sugar intake, these foods will taste less bitter and you may even come to enjoy them.
4. Spicy Foods Will Taste Less Spicy
If you find that spicy foods are just too hot for your taste buds, cutting back on sugar may help. That's because sugary foods can amplify the heat of spices, making them seem even hotter than they actually are. So if you love spicy food but find that it's just too much for your palate, reducing your sugar intake could help make it more tolerable.
5. Sour Foods Will Taste Less Sour
Similar to how sugary foods can amplify the heat in spicy dishes, they can also make sour foods seem even sourer than they are. If you're not a fan of sour flavours, reducing your sugar intake could help take the edge off and make these dishes more palatable.
So there you have it. I have an extremely sweet tooth, but I’ve managed to simply replace sugar with our sugar-free confectionery. I still get the sweetness burst I need but with way less calories and no impact on my teeth hygiene. It’s a win-win.
Good luck with your own ‘sugar’ journey. I hope these benefits may sway you to reducing your sugar intake.