The Internet is an amazing invention. Some of the information that it presents is life changing, while other advice is hazardous to your health.
I like to watch a Youtube channel from @outofthedoldrums. Dr. Irminne Van Dyken is a surgeon who presents information on a variety of health topics. I watched one episode about Moringa Powder, a health drink. She suggested to mix up this powder with water and let it steep. I purchased the smallest amount of Morninga I could find. I have had mixed experiences with these types of experiments, so didn’t want to be stuck with a large amount!
I drank it and found the taste unpleasant. My wife tried it and thought it was disgusting. She said it tasted like swamp water! I laughed and thought that it may be something that The Toxic Avenger would drink! After that, I went to my go-to strategy: hide the package in the back of the cupboard so I wouldn’t be reminded of my failed experiment.
Well, many months passed. I listened to an episode of Dr. Huberman about sense of taste. He mentioned that taste is influenced by three factors: 1) Food interacts with the taste buds which sends electronic signals to the brain, 2) Nerves in the intestine sample food for nutrients which also send electronic signals to the brain and 3) Our thoughts about the food. How the brain interprets these three inputs determines whether we experience the food as ‘yum’, ‘yuck’ or ‘meh’.
Take note: If a food is ‘meh’, but healthy, you can trick your brain into thinking it tastes better! What you do is pair the healthy food with a better tasting food. This makes your brain associate a better taste for the meh food.
So, in my case, I drank the moringa tea alternating it with berries. I also reminded myself of the great health benefits that it possessed. And it worked! After a few weeks, the Moringa Tea tasted better. I was able to consume the small package. Thus, completing an experiment that I will never try again!
Thanks for reading. #lifestylemedicine #olderadults #seniors #hookedonhuberman
Photo by Alex Lvrs on Unsplash