Causes of food aversions

Causes and How It Works

Conditioned Taste Aversion: Causes and How It Works

By Tessa Sawyers on November 21, 2018

A taste aversion is a tendency to avoid or make negative associations with a food that you ate just before getting sick.

Many people have taste aversions and they’re often the subject of conversations about food. When someone asks, “What food do you dislike?” many people can come up with a story about a run-in with a food that they now refuse to eat.

An example of a conditioned taste aversion is getting the flu after eating a specific food, and then, long past the incident, avoiding the food that you ate prior to getting sick. This can happen even though the food didn’t cause the illness since it isn’t spread this way.

This is called a conditioned taste aversion because you’ve trained yourself to avoid the food even though it wasn’t related to your illness. This is considered a single-trial conditioning since it only took one time for you to be conditioned to avoid the food.

Taste aversions can occur both unconsciously and consciously. Sometimes, you can unconsciously avoid a food without realizing why. The strength of conditioned taste aversion usually depends on how much of the food you consumed and how sick you were.

Typically, taste aversion occurs after you’ve eaten something and then get sick. This sickness usually involves nausea and vomiting. The more intense the sickness, the longer the taste aversion lasts.

Certain conditions or illnesses, unrelated to the food you’re eating, can trigger nausea and vomiting that contribute to your taste aversion:

chemotherapy
anorexia
liver failure
bulimia
ear infection
motion sickness
rotavirus
pregnancy and morning sickness
stomach flu
drinking too much alcohol
overeating

Food aversions are, for the most part, psychological. You’re not allergic to the food, your mind is just associating the food with the time you got sick. Here are a few ways to try and combat food aversions:

Make new associations. You may associate coconut flavor with the time you got ill after eating coconut cream pie, so you associate coconut with vomit. Instead, consciously try associating coconut with tropical islands, vacations, or relaxing on a warm beach.
Make the food in a new way. If you got sick after eating fried eggs, try to prepare your eggs in a different way — such as an omelet — to avoid associating eggs with sickness.
Increase your exposure. Slowly increasing your exposure to the taste you have an aversion to can prevent you from feeling sick or disgusted about the taste. Try just smelling it first, then taste a small amount.

Taste aversions can be a sign of a more serious issue such as an eating disorder. If you have taste aversions that affect your ability to eat a balanced diet, talk to your doctor about the possibility of an eating disorder.

Taste aversions usually occur when you get nauseous or vomit after eating something and then associate the food with the sickness. Sometimes, a taste aversion will fade over time. However, some people report having taste aversions many years after the incident occurred.

If you’re experiencing an extreme taste aversion that stops you from getting proper nutrition, make an appointment with your doctor. They can point you in the right direction for specialists or treatments that can help you put your taste aversions behind you.

How we reviewed this article:

Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Chambers KC. (2018). Conditioned taste aversions. DOI:
1016/j.wjorl.2018.02.003
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Nausea and vomiting: Causes.
mayoclinic.org/symptoms/nausea/basics/causes/sym-20050736
Lin J-Y, et al. (2014). Conditioned taste aversion, drugs of abuse and palatability. (2014).
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4134772/
Lin J-Y, et al. (2017). Conditioned taste aversions: From poisons to pain to drugs of abuse. DOI:
3758/s13423-016-1092-8

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Nov 21, 2018

Written By

Tessa Sawyers

Edited By

Ginger Wojcik

Share this article

By Tessa Sawyers on November 21, 2018

Causes and How It Works

Conditioned Taste Aversion: Causes and How It Works

By Tessa Sawyers on November 21, 2018

A taste aversion is a tendency to avoid or make negative associations with a food that you ate just before getting sick.

Certain conditions or illnesses, unrelated to the food you’re eating, can trigger nausea and vomiting that contribute to your taste aversion:

chemotherapy
anorexia
liver failure
bulimia
ear infection
motion sickness
rotavirus
pregnancy and morning sickness
stomach flu
drinking too much alcohol
overeating

Make new associations. You may associate coconut flavor with the time you got ill after eating coconut cream pie, so you associate coconut with vomit. Instead, consciously try associating coconut with tropical islands, vacations, or relaxing on a warm beach.
Make the food in a new way. If you got sick after eating fried eggs, try to prepare your eggs in a different way — such as an omelet — to avoid associating eggs with sickness.
Increase your exposure. Slowly increasing your exposure to the taste you have an aversion to can prevent you from feeling sick or disgusted about the taste. Try just smelling it first, then taste a small amount.

How we reviewed this article:

Chambers KC. (2018). Conditioned taste aversions. DOI:
1016/j.wjorl.2018.02.003
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2018). Nausea and vomiting: Causes.
mayoclinic.org/symptoms/nausea/basics/causes/sym-20050736
Lin J-Y, et al. (2014). Conditioned taste aversion, drugs of abuse and palatability. (2014).
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4134772/
Lin J-Y, et al. (2017). Conditioned taste aversions: From poisons to pain to drugs of abuse. DOI:
3758/s13423-016-1092-8

Our experts continually monitor the health and wellness space, and we update our articles when new information becomes available.

Current Version

Nov 21, 2018

Written By

Tessa Sawyers

Edited By

Ginger Wojcik

Share this article

By Tessa Sawyers on November 21, 2018

Aversion to certain foods may warn of cancer | 74.ru

All news

You can’t take your eyes off: wonderful babies that appeared in the Chelyabinsk zoo in 2022

The last chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR Ruslan Khasbulatov died

The Federation Council proposed to deprive Valery Meladze of Russian citizenship for supporting Ukraine. What the artist replied to this

A two-month-old girl died in the Chelyabinsk region, who was admitted to the hospital with a temperature of

Putin called the girl whose card he chose at the Wishing Tree

There were no drivers willing to help: the traffic police pulled the car stuck in the snow in the Southern Urals kids will become happy and rich

Beautiful, hot, healthy: we publish recipes for ideal winter drinks (they are easy to make at home)

“The wheels get stuck, they drag on the road”: the mayor’s office reports on road cleaning, and Chelyabinsk residents publish photos of snow porridge

“They rest for three days, and then they don’t know what to do”: the State Duma proposed to shorten the New Year holidays for Russians

In Magnitogorsk, a pensioner fell into a snow-covered well

“Thongs are uncomfortable”: the story of a tire shop owner who works as a stripper at night

The plane flying from Moscow to Magnitogorsk made an emergency landing in Koltsovo

Andryukha, we have a corpse! What do you remember from the main (and favorite) series about cops

Two popular skating rinks were closed in Chelyabinsk

“Aries will succeed”: why we believe in horoscopes, but they come true — we talk with a psychologist

Snowdrifts and more than 30 cars in an accident on the highway: watching the consequences of a snowstorm that hit the South Urals

“We will go to a low level and sit there”: economists talk about what will happen to the economy and the ruble in 2023

“Newbies do not know that there is a crisis in public catering »: a restaurant boom began in Chelyabinsk

"There is a shortage. " Pilot Lekha - about who we will fly with next and how passengers have changed

Out of town, to the capital or abroad: what trends await the real estate market in the new year

Per square meter - with square eyes: summing up the unexpected results of the year in the housing market in Chelyabinsk

A multi-kilometer traffic jam has gathered on the M-5 highway due to massive traffic accidents

The Ministry of Defense announced the number of Russian military dead in Makeyevka

Chelyabinsk resident beat his mother and her random defender in the courtyard of a high-rise building

“He doesn't leave the door even at -30”: the story of Hachiko, who has been sitting on the porch of the hospital for a year and a half

Drivers will be tested for alcohol according to the new rules

Even schoolchildren can do better! 10 questions that will prove that you have forgotten the Russian language

Chelyabinsk residents have been warned about worsening weather: snowfalls and a blizzard are approaching the region

They speak a strange language and do not drink alcohol. How the disappearing Mennonite community lives on the edge of Russia

Due to snowfalls, buses linking Chelyabinsk and Ufa turn around on the M-5 highway

“Let women have animal rights”: how virgin men become extremists

Traffic restrictions were introduced on the M-5 highway due to snowfall and blizzard

In the Chelyabinsk region, an eight-year-old boy's fingers were torn off by a firecracker explosion

Eat and watch: 13 cool films for all the holidays0003

“I’m not naked, I’m very heavily dressed”: a Russian teacher makes cosplays for Japanese anime that cancer patients could not eat eggs. But after recovery, normal tastes returned to them

Photo: Timofey Kalmakov / 59.RU

Sweet becomes salty, sour becomes bitter. All patients who have experienced cancer treatment know this. Until now, this was considered a side effect of the treatment. But now there is evidence that the disease itself can cause food aversion, says Dr. Peter. nine0089

This is the conclusion of the scientist Turstan Bruin, who devoted his life to studying alcohol intolerance and taste changes in people with cancer. In one of his studies, published in the Journal of Clinical Radiology, he noted that one in four of the patients he examined had an aversion to certain foods.

“I had two male patients with lung cancer,” recalls Dr. Bruin. Both at some point stopped eating sausages. For one, they have become tasteless and like leather, for the other, on the contrary, they are too flavored. nine0089

At the same time, one of the patients had an aversion to sausages 2 years before the diagnosis, and the other - 3 years.

The doctor recalls patients with cervical cancer: by the time the disease was diagnosed, one could not eat eggs for four months, the other had been sick of them for six years. At the same time, a few months after treatment, normal tastes returned to them.

Aversion to it can be a harbinger of several types of cancer at once, such as cervical or lung cancer. In the practice of Dr. Bruin, there were patients who could not eat cheese for several years, but did not even suspect that they had oncology. nine0089

“One 44-year-old patient admitted that when he ate cheese, he felt like he was chewing gum,” the scientist writes. “After radiation therapy, everyone regained normal tastes.”

Its taste for cancer patients became the most unpleasant, and these complaints were the most frequent. Many of them have given up their favorite drink for years.

According to doctors, changes in taste are associated with tumors growing in the head and neck, as well as with a violation of the intestinal microbiota. According to researchers, aversion to previously loved food may indicate advanced cancer and is the fourth most common symptom among gastrointestinal disorders after dry mouth, weight loss and rapid satiety. nine0089

"Clinicians routinely ignore altered taste perception in cancer patients because it is not a life-threatening aspect," the scientists wrote in a report published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology. “But it's a worrying early sign of tumor growth. Therefore, it is important to identify such a symptom as a manifestation of cancer.”

August 24, 2022, 18:00
Half of the patients do not know about the diagnosis: how to recognize diabetes in yourself - symptoms and simple ways
November 22, 2022, 18:00
Attacks in the dark: a new "night" omicron symptom that many people miss - check yourself
November 25, 2022, 17:00
After what age you can not think about extra pounds. Scientists have named the ideal weight for longevity is there really a link between sugar consumption and the growth of malignant tumors

Irina Sebeleva

Oncology of therassician

Laik5
Laughter0
Surprise3
Anges 2
Sorrows 6

saw a nipple? Select a fragment and press Ctrl+Enter

COMMENTS20

Read all comments

What can I do if I log in?

Media news2

Why you don’t feel like eating and what to do about it

July 21, 2021 Likbez Health nine0003

You may need to stay cool for a couple of hours.

Why I don't want to eat

Loss of appetite is not a diagnosis. But this can be a sign of serious health problems or just a misunderstanding. Here are a few common factors that can affect appetite.

1. Age

Appetite often decreases with age. Perhaps this is due to the fact that with age, the metabolism slows down and people simply need fewer calories than in their youth. nine0003

But other reasons are not excluded. Scientists suspect that the elderly may not produce enough ghrelin, a hormone responsible for appetite. Or the work of the sense organs is changing, and people do not get the pleasure from food that in their youth (and if so, why eat?).

Research is still ongoing. But it is unambiguously established: the older we get, the less we eat.

2. High physical or mental stress

If you feel like a squirrel in a wheel all day long, rush somewhere, worry about something, and in the evening you fall exhausted from your feet, you should not be surprised at a decrease in appetite. nine0003

When you are extremely exhausted, the body is forced to choose what to spend energy on: running around or energy-intensive digestion. If you can’t get out of business, the brain reduces the activity of the gastrointestinal tract. You just don't want to eat.

3. Pregnancy in women

Many mothers-to-be face nausea and loss of appetite. Most often this happens in the first trimester.

Kesha Gaither

MD, obstetrician-gynecologist, in a comment to Parents. nine0003

Approximately one in two pregnant women in the United States experiences periods of aversion to some familiar food.

The exact cause of decreased appetite during pregnancy is not known. But experts suggest that the matter is in the hormonal restructuring of the body and increased sensitivity to tastes and smells. Perhaps the refusal of a favorite food is an evolutionary mechanism: in this way, the mother’s body tries to protect the fetus from substances that are potentially harmful to its development.

4. Weather

In the heat of summer, you want to eat much less than on cold autumn or winter evenings. The fact is that food is part of the body's thermoregulation system. When we are cool, we tend to consume more calories in order to convert them into heat. In the heat, the body does not need additional heating, and therefore neglects food.

5. Mood

Someone's appetite disappears because of nervousness, someone, on the contrary, gets stressed out. Scientists have not yet discovered any common algorithm for all that connects emotions and eating behavior. But it was quite clearly established that the desire to eat largely depends on mood. And for each person, this connection is individual. nine0003

6. Smoking

Nicotine has a side effect: it reduces the need for food.

7. SARS and other diseases in the acute phase

Leptin is a hormone that causes satiety. But at the same time, this substance takes an active part in the immune response to infection.

With a cold, flu, exacerbation of other infectious diseases, the level of leptin increases - this allows the body to repel a pathogenic attack. But once the hormone becomes more, there is a feeling of satiety. Therefore, sick people often refuse to eat. nine0003

8. Certain medications

Reduced appetite may be one of the side effects of antibiotics. But other drugs sometimes discourage the desire to eat. Painkillers based on codeine and morphine, as well as diuretics, for example, lead to such a reaction.

9. Psychiatric disorders

Loss of appetite may be caused by depression.

Another common mental disorder that is directly related to the reluctance to eat is anorexia nervosa. So doctors call an eating disorder caused by a desperate fear of gaining weight. nine0003

10. Diseases of the digestive system

Changes in appetite may be one of the first symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn's disease.

11. Viral hepatitis and other damage to the liver

One of the most important elements in the digestive system is the liver: it is here that blood enters with nutrients processed by the stomach and intestines. The body sorts the substances received, cleanses them of toxins and only then passes them into the general bloodstream. With viral hepatitis and other liver diseases, it ceases to cope with its functions. nine0003

In order not to overload the suffering liver and give it a chance to recover, the body reduces the production of hormones, enzymes and other substances responsible for the manifestation of appetite.

12. Cardiovascular diseases

Loss of appetite is one of the symptoms of chronic heart failure. In addition, reluctance to eat may be associated with a developing heart attack and heart defects.

13. Endocrine Disorders

If the thyroid gland produces less hormones than necessary (a condition called hypothyroidism), appetite is greatly reduced. However, the weight may increase. nine0003

14. Iron deficiency anemia

Loss of appetite along with weight loss, especially if all this is accompanied by fatigue, a feeling of lack of strength, is one of the most characteristic symptoms of iron deficiency in the body.

15. Cancer

Loss of appetite often accompanies oncological diseases such as:

stomach cancer;
pancreatic cancer;
colon cancer;
ovarian cancer.

Food aversion can also be a side effect of tumor treatment.

Is it necessary to restore appetite

On the one hand, reducing appetite is a convenient thing. Someone suffers on diets, and you reduce the caloric content of the diet by itself.

On the other hand, one should not rejoice at the lack of appetite. At least because with a limited diet, you get fewer nutrients. And this can lead to hypovitaminosis (and even beriberi), a decrease in hemoglobin levels, anemia and more serious problems - with the liver and other internal organs, vision, joints, teeth. nine0003

What exactly will be the long-term consequences of a decrease in appetite depends on the reasons that caused such a condition. It's one thing if you don't feel like eating just because you're sad or too hot. And it is quite another if the loss of appetite is associated with damage to the liver, heart, and even more so cancer.

What to do if you don't feel like eating

First, take care of yourself, your well-being, and life circumstances. Perhaps your appetite has decreased for external reasons, for example, due to heat, fatigue, worries. In this case, the desire to eat will return as soon as stress factors disappear. nine0003

But if everything is calm in your life, and your appetite has disappeared, or if indifference to food lasts for weeks, try to see a therapist.

See your doctor as soon as possible if you notice that your reluctance to eat is accompanied by sudden weight loss.

The doctor will examine you and ask you about your symptoms. He will definitely ask what medications you take, what lifestyle you lead, whether the loss of appetite is due to stressful events, such as divorce, the loss of a family member or friend.