Taste
Our tongues are covered in little bumps which contain our taste buds. The taste buds then send messages to the brain about the type of flavour we have in our mouths.People who are less sensitive to taste, generally seek and enjoy strong flavours. They will be partial to spicy foods, citrus fruits or fizzy sour sweets. People with lower sensitivity to foods usually don’t mind eating a range of flavours so are more likely to have a varied diet than someone with higher sensitivity.
People who have a higher sensitivity to taste are often unfairly known by other people as ‘fussy eaters’ and may stick to plain foods which they are familiar with. It is helpful to understand that this isn’t a choice or stubborn behaviour, but that some people’s brains get overloaded trying to understand messages sent from their taste buds. When someone has a higher sensitivity to taste, they may keep different foods separate and only put one flavour in their mouth at a time to help reduce and simplify the messages from the taste buds. It is also important to note that the less flavour a food has, usually the less colour it has. That is why for children who struggle with taste ‘beige’ foods- e.g. plain pasta, chips, chicken nuggets, crackers etc are so appealing.
Taste and learning are deeply connected. Taste can teach us food preferences, recognise the difference in safe vs spoiled food and give our tongue sensory feedback on different textures of food.
Much like the sense of smell, differences in taste are not something I claim to be an expert in, nor do differences in taste tend to be the main issue parents contact me. It can be an issue, but it is more often secondary to the issues that I am contacted to help resolve. If you solely are looking for help with your child’s eating a good place to start would be here https://www.indi.ie/find-a-dietitian.html where you will hopefully be able to find a local dietician to assist you on your journey.
If ‘fussy eating’ is only one of a number of symptoms that your child is struggling with then primitive reflex integration may help reduce some symptoms. Some reflexes which can have an impact on taste/ eating can include the Moro Reflex, the rooting/ suck reflex, and the Babkin reflex. Get in touch today to lean more.