Tonight I present: Taste aversion!

Sorry it's been a while since my last post, so let's dive right in.

First we need to discuss what a taste aversion is. To put in simple terms, having a taste aversion means you don't like a certain taste or flavor. Pretty simple, huh? Here is something else that's simple... how we obtain them. So here we go.

We can tie taste aversions right into psychology. We can tie it to a mental state we have that makes us dislike certain taste's from others. Basically, a taste aversion comes from classical conditioning.

What is Classical Conditioning?

Classical conditioning involves 5 main items: unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, neutral stimulus,  conditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response.

The Unconditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that, naturally, elicits a response.
The Unconditioned Response: an unlearned response, that occurs naturally.
Neutral Stimulus: a stimulus that produces no specific response.
The Conditioned Stimulus: a stimulus that used to be neutral, but was paired directly with an unconditioned stimulus and now elicits a conditioned response.
The Conditioned Response: a learned response to a prior neutral stimulus.

Classical conditioning can happen consciously and unconsciously. In terms of taste aversion, it tends to happen without even trying. Here is a (far-fetched) example:

You just bought fresh lemons from the farmer's market. You plan on using these in lemonade and a special new dinner you want to make for that special someone. While you prepare, you turn on the radio and decide to take a bite out of the lemon and, naturally, pucker up. Just as you were taking a bite, a new Britney Spears song started playing on the radio. You decide you don't really enjoy the taste of the lemon on its own but continue. You finish the lemonade and the dinner and serve it to your other half. You both enjoy the meal and call it a night. The next day you drive in your car on the way to work and the Britney song comes on again. You immediately think about the horrendously sour taste of the lemon and how much you dislike them. From now on, anytime you hear the song, you think about the lemon and get that tingly feeling you had in the back of your mouth, avoiding lemons and that now stupid Britney song all together.

Have you figured out what the US, UR, NS, CS, and CR are? I will give them to you.
US: lemon
UR: almost gagging from the sour taste and making that not-so-cute face
NS: Britney's song
CS: Britney's song
CR: dislike for lemons and the Britney song

Generally, with food, you only need one run to realize you don't like something. People will tend to try it once more to make a final decision but, if you are anything like me, if you have tried it once and hated it, chances are you will not try it again. With other things, such as behavioral training, it is a process that needs to be repeated before you get the end result you want.

Here is also a picture of a very famous experiment that was done to clarify things for ya:

See what I mean? This can apply to anything you eat, drink, or even do.
Why do you not like mushrooms? Because they have a weird texture and give you an uneasy feeling when eating them. So what do you do? Not eat them anymore.

I have an extensive list of foods I dislike, or have a taste aversion for. I get made fun of sometimes because I am so picky but that's ok.
Here are some of mine: any type of nuts, mushrooms, grapes, blueberries, eggplant, (some) red meats, ham (as in the lunch meat), water (lol), collard greens, pecan pie, key lime pie, tequila, and it goes on and on...

What are some of the foods you just can't eat or drink?