DR. MASON
 Response from Dr. Mason
Seniors will wonder why their favorite foods no longer generate the same appetites. One reason is that our taste buds, along with our olfactory nerves, lose some of their acuity over time. I mention the latter because taste is far more a matter of what happens in your nose than in your mouth. Because your tongue can only sense salt, sour, sweet and bitter, it is your sense of smell that provides the subtle nuances and rich bouquets. That is why eating when you have a cold is a mostly tasteless experience. It is why spicier dishes that you may have avoided earlier in life now seem to taste better. It is also why you may suddenly crave more salt on your food just as your blood pressure is already on the way up.
Personally, I've developed a new interest in soup. Where I had always thought of it mostly as a lackluster starter, I now thoroughly enjoy it as a main course. On the other hand, those stuffed pork chops that I dearly loved, now cause far more problems than they are worth and ditto goes for green onions.
And then there is the topic of sugar. It has been a straight line down from when I could not get enough as a kid to the occasional ice cream as an adult to today when I prefer a sour pickle.
But why should it be seen as odd when our food choices change. The same thing happens with our taste in music, fashion, hobbies and politics. It is all part of growing up.
Contact Dr. Mason at NBY! Dr. Mason, PO Box 722, Brea, CA or email him at 92822DrSBMason@aol.com. |
KRISTIN
 Response from Kristin
I’m not 100 per cent sure our cattle haven’t turned “funny.” There has been so much written about the chemicals fed to our livestock and the abuse perpetrated upon them in slaughter houses, perhaps steak is no longer the steak of our youth.
Personally, I have noticed that as I’ve aged my ability to detect an aftertaste is more acute. Fast food which I gobbled up as a young woman now seems like a mishmash of grease and salt. Again, what we read about our food may be affecting our pleasure with it. If we are repeatedly told eating a diet of cheeseburgers will lead us to a life of strokes and by-pass surgery, obviously it will be hard to enjoy one without visualizing clogged arteries.
Cravings perhaps have more to do with our minds than the actual needs of our bodies. That’s why advertisers spend billions of dollars parading images of food before us on TV, in magazines…and billboards. Just today while we were driving, my Mother twisted around in her seat and stared, almost mesmerized, at a picture of a 20-foot chicken sandwich perched over a bus stop. Let’s just say, I’m glad I was the one doing the driving.
Memory also plays tricks on us. If we remember luscious summer days, sucking on juicy slices of watermelon how can we now settle for poking through a plastic container of pale, out-of-season fruit? Undoubtedly, we will feel cheated. Still, little can compare when satisfaction meets our expectation. When my friend was dying, she told me how much she wished for one more root beer float. I will always remember her look of ecstasy when I gave her what she most desired.
Contact Kristin at NBY! Kristin, PO Box 722, Brea, CA or email her at 92822 bettertimesafter50@hotmail.com. |
