# Do adults, all of a sudden, stop liking certain foods? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 13, 2007, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066 "2007-02-13T19:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/41 "2018-03-25T06:08:45Z")
About two years ago, I suddenly couldn’t stand the smell (and if I don’t want to smell it, I sure as heck won’t taste it) of cholent, even though I was previously an enthusiastic eater of the stuff. It might have been caused by my advancing kidney disease, which depressed my appetite in general, but despite my having gotten a transplant, my taste for it has not returned. ---
**Author:** ![kiz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7feea3/32.png) [@kiz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kiz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/42 "2018-03-25T12:29:45Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have quite consciously cut down enormously on sugar and salt. I no longer enjoy very sweet or overly salty foods. This :nodding: I was an avowed chocoholic for many years. Nowadays I have it sparingly because it’s just too rich for my taste now. I don’t know what changed :shrug: I’ve never liked inherently salty food like potato chips. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/43 "2018-03-25T13:10:10Z")
What a silly argument. Of course, adults can change their minds on likes and dislikes. There have been a couple of foods that I got tired of. > [@ZonexandScout](#): > > The only other food that I NEVER touch are olives. They make me gag. But I’ve never liked them so I don’t think they count. Unfortunately, my wife is Greek Cypriot, so I have to allow them in the house. This has introduced her to the whole “flame sterilize the knives and cutting board” scenario. I told my wife that any attempt at actually bringing natto into our house would result in an immediate divorce. Since moving to Taiwan, that also includes stinky tofu. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Mills](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@Mister\_Mills](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Mills)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/44 "2018-03-25T20:46:17Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > She thought I was crazy. She said that adults don’t stop liking certain foods all of a sudden. I said that they obviously do, since I did… > Is this common, or am I really crazy? Or both, I suppose. I think that it is pretty common, tastes change all of the time. And I think that tastes can change for a lot of different reasons—such as too much of something, too often—can burn you out. I don’t see anything unusual in it. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2018, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/45 "2018-03-25T20:48:31Z")
Over the last ten years or so, I gradually lost my sweet tooth. ---
**Author:** ![overlyverbose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9dc877/32.png) [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/46 "2018-03-26T15:10:17Z")
As an adult, I’ve noticed that I’m relying less on food for emotional support, and that is leading to less enjoyment of certain foods. Desserts, for example. I used to love them. They made me feel good. Now I just like the idea of them. I get a brownie or a cookie and I’m all set to enjoy this luscious decadence, to have it melt in my mouth and make me feel amazing. But instead, I take a few bites and, yeah, it tastes good. It’s just as mouth-melty as before. But the pleasure of the taste is no longer as acute, and the consequences have begun to outweigh the momentary enjoyment. Instead, as an adult, some of my favorites no longer like me. Queso, wine, ice cream. All of these things are lovely going down, but the next day? My face feels full, I get sick to my stomach and want to go back to bed for a week. Chinese food? I gain 5 pounds overnight and get cramps the next day. I don’t love the taste of a mostly vegetable and lean protein diet, but a healthy diet loves me better than the diet I had when I was in my 20s. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/47 "2018-03-26T15:21:00Z")
I think gradual changes in taste are pretty normal. I too don’t like sweets as much as I used to, and some foods make me regret it. As you age, it’s generally true that there is less appeal in simple, especially sweet tastes, and more appeal in complex tastes. It doesn’t happen all at once, though, which is what the OP is aiming at. Usually a sudden aversion of a food is due to 1. Having a bad experience with it (I’m like this with shrimp) and 2. Some physiological change; starting/stopping smoking, a prescription drug that affects the taste buds, an ailment, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2018, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066/48 "2018-03-27T01:19:10Z")
I don’t like a lot of stuff I used to love. Not just food items, Willy Nelson comes to mind, but a lot of foods that used to be really important to me, well I’m losing them. Number one: Pizza. How can that be? I thought it was because I don’t like the big, heavy, loaded pizzas so popular. Got to be New York style I said. I’ve recently had a slice on 6th Avenue, and there’s a local place that gets close. But I just don’t want it anymore. One slice and, whatever, I’m done. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-adults-all-of-a-sudden-stop-liking-certain-foods/392066.md?page=2)