Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (Full Version)

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solomonsprayer -> Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/4/2008 8:04:47 PM)

I know I know. Not all healthy foods taste bad. ...and "bad" is also a subjective term. [sm=bigears.gif] The title for my thread was meant to be more of a general statement/complaint and discussion starter [:)]

So having said that, I doubt that I am alone in this area when I say that I have a difficult time eating a healthy well-rounded diet, because so many of the foods in the healthy vegetable category do not appeal to me, while items from the high fat and sugary foods are always on my cravings list. For example, when faced with eating a stick of carrot during a late night snack craving versus a scoop of ice cream (actually more like a bowl) or perhaps some sugary cookies, I always choose the latter "better" tasting foods.

This has been a struggle with me and I wonder how others may work in healthy foods (like whole grains and vegetables, etc....fruits I'm ok with) into their diets while battling cravings against other not-so-healthy food items? Does anyone else seem to think that most healthy foods taste bad (and are frustrated by it)? [sm=icon_smile_boggled.gif]

[sm=icon_smile_tongue.gif]
solomonsprayer



HisCovenant -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/4/2008 8:10:07 PM)

I don't and think taste for healthy foods grows on you as you begin to think of them as the norm and not junk food as the norm.

However, my husband is just like you described. He prefers white bread to whole grain bread. He prefers coke to water. He would turn down a carrot as a "dessert" but would go to the grocery store alone at night for a gallon of ice cream to make a bowl from. He detests green salads as meals. Apparently they take more chewing and bites to comsume than other meals. How's that for an excuse not to eat healthier?

He tries, but he struggles. A lot!!



Miss Giggles -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/4/2008 8:58:49 PM)

I'm like you. It's a struggle. I guess learning to cook vegetables correctly might help you. Canned vegetables (with the exception of corn) just look gross to me.

Salads and stir fries are ok to me.



IonMoon -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/4/2008 9:12:09 PM)

Yes, learning to prepare foods in a way you like them is key.

I sometimes eat raw carrots... but I wouldn't choose them if I were craving chocolate...

When I have a craving for something, instead of making myself eat something else, I try to figure out what it is from that food I want (salty, crunchy, sweet, etc) and then think of something healthier that would satisfy me in the same way.

So, if I am craving potato chips or french fries, I bake a potato or make fries in the oven.

If I am craving cookies, I make them- with olive oil, less sugar than the recipe calls for, and I use whole wheat flour. If I want ice cream, I make pudding--which is just as good, but healthier with fewer calories.

I also make things from scratch rather than grab a bag of something. Believe me, if you have to get everything out of the cabinet, mix it up, wait for it to cook, then clean up, those brownies are quite as tempting.

If I do buy junk (which is not a deadly sin!) I just take a serving, or even better, just buy 1 serving and eat it along with something healthy.

I have experimented with foods enough though that I am just as likely to have a craving for some zucchini and garlic as potato chips.

Tara P



Liveloved -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/4/2008 9:56:06 PM)

quote:

This has been a struggle with me and I wonder how others may work in healthy foods (like whole grains and vegetables, etc....fruits I'm ok with) into their diets while battling cravings against other not-so-healthy food items? Does anyone else seem to think that most healthy foods taste bad?


Don't keep the unhealthy foods you crave in the house. That's the easiest way to deal with a craving.

Healthy foods are wonderful---perhaps you need to learn how to season things properly. Seasonings can make a huge difference! If you eat healthy food at meal time and making sure you eat lots of fresh vegetables, your cravings will cease. Sugar fuels your appetite for more unhealthy foods so if you eliminate the sugary foods, you'll greatly reduce your cravings as well.

This time of year you can get fresh green beans, sugar snap peas, asparagus, sweet corn, swiss chard, spinach, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, and on and on. The past few nights we've had three veggies with our meat as well as a mixed fruit salad.

I hope you can learn to enjoy healthy foods.[:)]



Roberta_ -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 2:50:48 AM)

I found that as I forced myself to start eating healthier, I started having more cravings for healthy food. I still get a craving for chocolate or soda, but for the most part I find myself craving fruit, veggies and water about 95% of the time these days.



DreadPirateRandy -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 4:41:14 AM)

It's all psychological.

Junk food only tastes good because it's something you know you shouldn't be eating. Therefore, you eat it as a guilty pleasure. It tastes good because it isn't passed off as healthy. If potato chips were labeled healthy, do you think your first reaction would be, "Mmm! Healthy AND delicious!? NO WAY!"

Most people wouldn't think so. Junk food is passed off as a pleasure food, healthy food is passed off as nasty because it's actually good for you.



Cloak -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 4:13:57 PM)

I struggle when I bake a cake using wholewheat flour even tho I know it's healthy and the recipe calls for all-purpose; yet I use wholewheat flour. I end up with cake/muffins/scones that are less tasty than those cooked by white flour/all-purpose flour baked by co-workers or friends as the recipe dictated BUT I know they are More healthy.

Although I don't bake bread, I believe I can apply the same principle, sadly.

However, I love salads, stir fries.

Enjoying ice-cream during the summer moderately should not make you feel guilty. In fact, ice-cream contain lots of calcium, protein esp. for those who do not drink or like milk a lot.[8D]

So enjoy ice-cream in the summer...with moderation. It is only a treat during the summer, afterall!



IonMoon -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 6:19:34 PM)

I had problems with whole wheat flour, too, UNTIL I started buying King Arthur flour. I typically am not picky about brands, but I found that the difference between K.A. Whole wheat and any other whole wheat flour is incredible.

I can tell the difference in some things, but for most things- esp if there is any kind of flavoring, chocolate/fruit, etc, you can't really tell.

I have brownies in the oven right now, in fact. The buzzer just went off, too!

Tara P



Cloak -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 7:03:07 PM)

May I have some please? [8D]



isaacsmom -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/5/2008 7:53:50 PM)

quote:

It is only a treat during the summer, afterall!


Not necessarily! [8D] I'm notorious for throrougly enjoying ice cream in the dead of winter. [:D]

I definitely agree with the posters who said that seasoning makes all the difference, and that the more healthy foods one eats, the more one craves them and not the junk. Truth is, the junk is addictive. Our system will crave more sugar if we feed it sugar. Once you start kicking it out, the less you'll crave it.

I have completely cut out white flour (white bread, pasta, etc.) and only do whole grains. Honestly, we've come to prefer the whole grains. It took some getting used to. I bake with raw honey or once in a while organic cane sugar. I always bake with freshly ground whole wheat flour. I can make a good batch of brownies that one would never know wasn't a mix. Also, a good fruit crisp can be made with fresh apples or peaches, raw honey, cinnamon and nutmeg, topped with ground almonds/honey/real butter, bake for a while and you have a good whole foods dessert. Mmmm! (got that one from my mom, she cooked it on the news this week). [:D]

We love veggies out of our garden -- zucchini is awesome roasted with some olive oil, salt/pepper, and parmesan. Mmmmmmmmm.



Focusing -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/6/2008 12:13:05 AM)

LOL ... I love this thread! [:D]

While I have never been a junk food junkie, I have had my moments in craving the "bad" stuff on a regular basis. My diet is actually pretty good, and yeah, switching from the white bread to the 100% whole wheat wasn't the easiest. But I much prefer it now. I just had to try a bunch of brands. I like Sara Lee 100% Whole Wheat with Honey. Yummy. Course, I've also been known to eat peanut butter smeared rice cakes as dinner. But that's beside the point.

Try some fun veggies. Forget the regular carrots, get baby carrots! Get the baby bell peppers instead of regular ones. Get Armenian cucumbers instead of the regular ones (they're sweeter and always super crisp). Okay, they might cost a little more, but watching over your health and making better choices pays off in the long run.

Salads can be fun too ... check out the recipe websites for inspiration. Try new dressings. Add some dried fruits and/or nuts. Diced meats. Fun cheeses (or cheeses with funny names [8D]). Make your own dressings. Get everyone in on it, from shopping in the produce section, to chopping and tossing, preparing the homemade dressing, to toasting your own croutons.



monamie -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/6/2008 8:30:11 AM)

(Hey Rachel, you saw the segment? It's on the internet too.)

Slice zucchini long-ways. Brush with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and garlic and broil on both sides until it's crispy. Top with pizza sauce (you have to make your own because the ones I have found on the shelf contain sugar or high fructose corn syrup) and any pizza toppings you prefer, then bake until cheese is melty. It's really good.

Watch when switching to "healthy" foods----read labels!!! Most commercial whole grain breads contain high fructose corn syrup.

Whatever bad food you're craving, there's usually a healthy alternative to satisfy the craving if you just look around enough. I eat chopped organic cocoa beans almost every day in my plain yogurt with honey. Satisfies any chocolate cravings I may have and raw cocoa is very nutritious.

The more nutrient dense your diet is, the less your body will crave because it is satisfied. Eventually, the junk won't even be appealing to you anymore.



smilingcutie -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/6/2008 11:24:03 PM)

Maybe it's all psychological. As in, you know that healthy food is better for you than junk food, but you may feel that junk food tastes so much better because it's something you really should not be eating.



IonMoon -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/7/2008 9:13:57 AM)

Actually, it is not just psychological. Sugar and fat are good sources of calories. When food supplies are low, they are the best things we can eat. It is a survival mechanism.

Unfortunately, food supplies are high right now... So the foods our bodies are built to craveare easy, quick, and cheap.

In their natural form, you can't get just sugar or just fat. If you are living out in the forrest and crave something sweet, you can have some fruit, which is nutritious and takes a little work to get... If you crave fat, you have to forage for nuts or hunt an animal... both take work and give you other nutrients. We enjoy them and crave them to entice us to get the nutrients we need.

Now... when you crave something, you can get it in its raw form--totally free of anything healthful. This makes it easy to quickly consume an excess of calories.

If food supplies were low, those same cravings that are detrimental would be keeping us alive.

Tara P



solomonsprayer -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/8/2008 1:10:43 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Miss Giggles

I'm like you. It's a struggle. I guess learning to cook vegetables correctly might help you. Canned vegetables (with the exception of corn) just look gross to me.

Salads and stir fries are ok to me.


I also agree that canned vegetables are repulsive to me (with corn also being the most notable exception - possibly green beans and a few others as well). [sm=biggrin.gif]



solomonsprayer -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/8/2008 1:13:31 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: isaacsmom

quote:

It is only a treat during the summer, afterall!


Not necessarily! [8D] I'm notorious for throrougly enjoying ice cream in the dead of winter. [:D]



If ice cream were only a summer treat, many of us would be in trouble. [;)]



HisCovenant -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/8/2008 1:17:23 PM)

Or wouldn't be in trouble with our weight. [;)]



solomonsprayer -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/8/2008 1:19:10 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: rainbowtvp

Yes, learning to prepare foods in a way you like them is key.

...............

Tara P


That's true. That's probably the key point as you said. I do find that Olive Garden salads, for example, are quite good. And Asian stir fry can be quite delicious with the right sauce and rice. Or green bean casserole on occassion, etc. ... Problem is, I am not familiar with how to prepare many of my favorite vegetable dishes, so when it comes time to make a quick meal I will make what I know or grab a tastey, but unhealty snack more easily over the healthier foods.

I'll have to figure out a few good healthy recipes! [:)]



DreadPirateRandy -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/9/2008 2:24:50 AM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: rainbowtvp

Sugar and fat are good sources of calories. When food supplies are low, they are the best things we can eat.


Sugar shouldn't be the main source of calories above all else. While I agree that carbohydrates are essential for energy, they also turn into fatty tissue if they aren't burnt. Complex carbs are much more important than simple carbs.



Miss Giggles -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/9/2008 11:57:19 AM)

Any excess of fat , protein or carbs will turn into fat if not burnt.

That's why if you follow one of those high protein diets but still eat too much you won't lose as much weight as they claim you will. Or don't lift weights to use the protein.

Carbs just happen to have the most calories per gram. Carbs also retain water so that's why people lose so much weight when they first start a low carb diet.



zoebob -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/9/2008 12:15:02 PM)

Are we only talking extremes here? My frustration is with things like no fat sour cream, actually any no/low fat dairy product. First of all, it seems like an oximoron. Secondly, dairy products are good for their flavor and texture. If I am going to eat something creamy or cheesy I want them to taste good and have the right texture. I don't eat those things to be healthy and there is nothing inherently wrong with sour cream or cheese or butter as long as that's not all you are eating.



Miss Giggles -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/9/2008 12:36:34 PM)

I agree with you on that. Whole foods may be higher in fat and cals but they fill you up. The artificial stuff doesn't. Plus some foods aren't healthy for you at all it just means don't eat them for every meal.



DreadPirateRandy -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/10/2008 9:36:58 PM)

Ironically enough, water also fills you up. [;)]

Our brain will receive a message from the stomach to be filled, often times this message is for hydration and NOT food intake. If you're looking to be filled every meal, drink more water with it.

And protein doesn't directly turn into fatty tissue. If that were so, bodybuilders would be in a heap of mess. It's when you consume too much protein that turns into leftover fat.



Cloak -> RE: Why Do Healthy Foods Taste Bad? (8/10/2008 11:05:09 PM)

Very true zoebob, that's why my philosophy is Moderation in everything. I used to be too strict, vegetarian...this and that till one day it dawned on me that...Life indeed is too short and it's not worth it all that stern regimen which I used to follow and deprive myself of so many things!!!



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