Can Taste Aversion Be A Sign Of A Mental Health Condition?
Taste aversion is when a person associates the taste of certain foods or liquids with a negative effect, like sickness or gastrointestinal discomfort. For example, if you ate tomato soup for lunch and then had an upset stomach, you might stop eating tomato soup or feel sick when you smell it—even if the soup actually had nothing to do with you getting sick in the first place.
According to the American Psychological Association, conditioned taste aversions—or those that are caused by a negative experience—can take effect quickly and may be long lasting. A single incident is often enough to produce the effect, and it can happen even if there’s a long delay between ingesting the food or drink and feeling sick.
What causes food aversion?
Researchers do not yet know the exact cause of food aversions, but they may have to do with hormonal changes. For example, the same hormones that cause food cravings in pregnant people may also cause food aversions. Hormones like these can also cause nausea, which could lead someone to associate a food they recently ate with feeling sick or vomiting.
Conditioned taste aversion
Conditioned taste aversions may also be related to sensory issues. For someone with an underlying sensory processing disorder, such as autism spectrum disorder, many things can make them associate certain foods with a negative stimulus; it doesn’t necessarily have to be taste. For example, people with sensory processing issues may not like how a particular food looks, smells, or feels in their mouth, or the food may be too hot, too cold, or difficult to swallow.
If you’re experiencing challenges related to eating and/or symptoms of an eating disorder, meeting with a doctor or nutritionist is generally recommended.
Classical conditioning and food aversion
Theories on food aversions are often linked to classical conditioning. Ivan Pavlov discovered classical conditioning by accident in the 1890s when he was researching the digestion of dogs. He noticed that the dogs went from salivating when food was placed in front of them to salivating just before their food arrived. Pavlov realized the dogs were reacting to the noises they heard when their food was on the way.
Pavlov's classical conditioning experiment
To test this, he set up an experiment where he rang a bell before presenting the food to the dogs. Eventually, they began to salivate at the sound of the bell alone. In this experiment, the food was the unconditioned stimulus and salivating was the unconditioned response. These two things were naturally related: the dogs salivated when they had food.
The role of the bell
The bell began as a neutral stimulus that had nothing to do with the food or salivating but became the conditioned stimulus once it elicited salivation, which was the conditioned response. While this finding was significant, it worked with a neutral stimulus. Decades later, another psychologist would undertake a set of experiments to identify the effects when negative stimuli were involved.
The Garcia effect
In the 1950s, a psychologist named John Garcia demonstrated taste aversion in a lab setting. Garcia was examining the effects of radiation exposure on rats when he noticed that those that were given water in plastic bottles before being radiated started to avoid drinking from those bottles, choosing to drink from glass ones instead. Garcia speculated that the plastic gave the water a taste that the rats associated with getting sick. He tested this theory by giving them saccharine-flavored water during radiation exposure—and the rats soon began to avoid that flavored water. This aversion lasted months, even though it was only paired with radiation a single time.
Garcia studied this phenomenon further by conducting an experiment in which rats licked a spout that gave them saccharine-flavored water paired with flashing lights and a clicking sound. The rats were irradiated while they drank the sweetened water, saw the flashing lights, and heard the clicking noises, all at the same time.
How rats develop taste aversions in Garcia's experiment
The rats began avoiding the saccharine solution when it was offered to them alone, without the light and sound. However, they continued to drink from the spout when it had plain, unsweetened water and was paired with the other stimuli. Garcia theorized that the rats more strongly associated the taste of the saccharine water with radiation sickness than the light or the clicker, even though all three were paired with feeling ill. He then paired the saccharine water, lights, and clicker with an electrical shock instead of radiation poisoning. The rats then associated the lights and sounds with the shock, not the sweetened water.
The Garcia effect in conditioned taste aversion
So while the theory of classical conditioning posits that any neutral stimuli could be associated with any conditioned response, Garcia’s experiment demonstrated that, in some cases, specific stimuli can lead to specific responses. Because of his work in this area, conditioned taste aversion is sometimes called the Garcia effect.
Taste aversion and eating disorders
Some research suggests that taste aversion may play a role in some types of eating disorders. For example, one review examined learning theory, the development of eating regulation, and the processes involved in controlling how much is eaten in those with eating disorders and those without. One of the areas on which researchers focused was taste aversions and how they have the potential to override the biological need to eat, leading to food restriction. For instance, some speculate that eating food may elicit disgust and become “intrinsically revolting” in people with anorexia nervosa.
How anorexia can lead to taste aversion
GI disturbances that result from malnutrition may reinforce this disgust, but some reports suggest that taste aversions can be elicited without any physical illness at all in people with anorexia. The expectations of the impact of food on the body—specifically, gaining weight—may result in self-disgust, which may lead to taste aversion in those living with anorexia.
How food aversions develop in people with eating disorders
People with eating disorders may also have thoughts about how eating anything at all will cause them to gain weight, which can make all foods taste bad or cause GI upset after eating anything. People with these types of food aversions might be more likely to generalize them to other foods, and these aversions may also be more challenging to overcome.
When do food aversions require treatment?
Food or taste aversions can sometimes go away on their own in time, but they can also be a sign of an eating disorder—symptoms of which will not typically go away without professional treatment.
Common symptoms of eating disorders
Symptoms of eating disorders can vary depending on the person, the type of eating disorder, and its severity, but some general signs can include:
Extremely restricted eating
Intense fear of gaining weight
Dramatic restriction of the type of or amount of food eaten
Lack of interest in food
Abdominal pain or upset stomach with no other known cause
Limited range of preferred foods
Eating disorders can be treated. Treatment plans may include medical care and monitoring, nutritional counseling, and psychotherapy. People with eating disorders are also more likely to have other mental health conditions, like anxiety or depression, so treatment may involve treating any of these co-occurring illnesses as well.
How online therapy can help
While online therapy is not appropriate for every case—such as severe instances in which an individual needs immediate medical care or supervision—it can be a more approachable way for some individuals with an eating disorder to seek care. With an online therapy platform like BetterHelp, you can work with a licensed therapist from the comfort of your own home, and you can change therapists at any time for no additional fee until you find a good fit.
Effectiveness of online therapy
Research indicates that online treatment may be an effective way to address symptoms of eating disorders. One study from 2020 suggests that online cognitive behavioral therapy was effective in reducing eating disorder pathology and body dissatisfaction and improving physical and mental health, social functioning, self-esteem, and quality of life in participants. This study also reports that these results were sustained up to one year post-treatment.
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Takeaway
Taste aversions can occur quickly, even after a single exposure. Some taste aversions can disappear on their own over time. Others may be a sign of an eating disorder, a type of condition that typically does not resolve without professional treatment. If you’re experiencing extremely restricted eating or other potential signs of an eating disorder, you might consider consulting with a mental health professional for support. Speaking with a therapist online or in person can often be the first step toward receiving care.
What is taste aversion in real-life examples?
Researchers believe that taste aversion is learning to associate certain foods with negative behavioral or psychological reactions. A real-life example is getting sick after eating too much ice cream, and then avoiding ice cream or other foods with a sweet taste for a while after because this conditioned taste elicits nausea for you now. This is an example of learned food aversions, or conditioned taste avoidance.
How do I stop taste aversion?
A taste aversion is when particular characteristics of a certain food—such as smell, temperature, texture, or taste, such as a sour or bitter taste—make you want to avoid eating it. A conditioned aversion is when this is due to a specific past experience, like a person avoiding tomato soup because they experienced a subsequent illness after the last time they had it. Even if the item is not a toxic substance, any previous post-ingestion consequences or other associations—even mimicked illness reactions—could cause aversion.
If you’re trying to end a taste aversion, it sometimes simply takes time for the memory of your illness responses or other aversive stimuli to fade. In other cases, you may be able to overcome learned taste aversions through increasing and repeated exposure over time. If you suspect that your high taste reactivity or aversive tastes may indicate chronic medical conditions or further illness related to a mental health condition, like ARFID or anorexia nervosa, it’s recommended that you speak with a healthcare professional as soon as possible.
What is taste aversion in AP Psychology?
According to the American Psychology Association (APA), taste aversion can be defined as “avoidance of a particular taste.” This definition may be useful in the context of an AP Psychology class. The APA’s definition of conditioned taste aversion may also, which is: “the association of the taste of a food or fluid with an aversive stimulus (usually gastrointestinal discomfort or illness), leading to a very rapid and long-lasting aversion to, or at the least a decreased preference for, that particular taste.”
For a psychology class, it can be helpful to understand how researchers learned about the process of conditioned taste aversion. One key discovery in this topic’s history was John Garcia’s rat animal model experiments in the 1950s. He found that rats associated the taste of different types of water with negative physiological reactions and sensations caused by receiving repeated exposure to radiation.
He then introduced a highly palatable novel solution of calorie-rich sweet solutions in the form of saccharine water before radiation to confirm his theory, and the rats developed a taste avoidance for that novel sweet solution. This experiment showed that it’s possible to associate food, flavors, or a certain taste solution with the toxic nature of radiation—which can cause an incipient vomiting response—or other illness-inducing agents.
Which example demonstrates taste aversion?
Conditioned taste aversion learning involves understanding how such tastes develop. As an example to illustrate this concept, think about a specific food, like bell peppers. On their own, bell peppers don’t have an inherent positive or negative value for most. They’re generally not considered harmful substances or toxic foods (except by those who are allergic to them), and in fact their caloric or nutritive value means that they’re served and eaten widely.
However, imagine that you ate a salad containing bell pepper and then had negative rejection reactions or post-ingestion consequences—not just that you found it to taste bitter or unpleasant, but that you became nauseated and maybe even vomited after eating it. In some cases, this may cause you to develop a negative taste-illness association with bell peppers due to the phenomenon of taste aversion learning. From then on, bell peppers, your illness-inducing agents, evoke a strong negative reaction in you.
Due to this food aversion learning, this new taste-illness association engages now whenever you see, smell, or taste a bell pepper. You may have a decreased ability compared to before when it comes to tolerating this food, and encountering it may produce the same responses as the time you got sick—e.g., feeling nauseated and ill. You may now associate food of this type with being sick, and the theory of taste aversion allows you to blame illness for this association.
What is taste aversion?
Taste aversion is learning on a subconscious level to avoid certain foods that disgust you and may even make you exhibit rejection reactions like nausea when faced with them. This could happen to you with any food, whether it has a sweet, sour, salty, or bitter taste. It’s often due to avoidance learning, which is when you have a negative reaction to a certain food and then come to avoid it in the future. It doesn’t usually happen to people who have positive post-ingestion consequences like feeling satiated and having enjoyed the meal.
What is an example of a taste preference?
A taste preference is when a person naturally gravitates toward certain tastes or flavors over others. Researchers suspect that taste preferences may have a genetic component but that they can also be adjusted as mammals enter postnatal life. In other words, while a person may not naturally prefer bitter foods, for instance, they could come to enjoy them if they’re born into a family or culture where bitter foods are commonplace.
How do I force my taste back?
It’s possible to lose your sense of taste after contracting an illness like COVID-19. UC Health recommends eating aromatic or strongly scented foods—like ginger and peanut butter—in order to try and bring your sense of taste back.
Why am I addicted to taste?
According to an article published by Arizona State University, eating certain foods—like those high in fat or sugar—may create strong cravings. This is thought to be because their consumption releases dopamine in the brain, which is a neurotransmitter related to reward processing.
Is taste aversion genetic?
Some research suggests that genetics may play a role in some taste aversions. However, genes are not the only reason someone might develop a particular food aversion, as it can also happen because of avoidance learning. This means that a person can have an experience that causes a conditioned taste—often an aversion, though people can also exhibit positive ingestion responses.
For example, someone might eat a particular food and feel sick after or experience mimicked illness responses after, which could lead to a situation where their rejection responses resemble an actual illness. In a situation like this, the conditioned taste generally makes the person averse to that particular food for a while or for life, often leading them to feel sick again when the taste is consumed in the future.
Finally, it’s also worth noting that sweet tastes change over time in many cases, as can tastes of any kind. Age differences exist in this phenomenon as a potential cause, as do new experiences. Both of these can alter the way a person perceives a particular food, for better or for worse. Preferred tastes a person has when they’re younger could turn into dislikes or even aversions later in life once age differences come into play. Or, a person may associate food of a certain type with dislike when they're younger but come to love foods in that category with age.
What psychologist did taste aversion?
Psychologist John Garcia is known for his experiments on animals—typically rats—to study the process of taste aversion. He exposed rats to radiation, which caused them to experience how the resulting illness occurs minutes later. He coupled this exposure with flavored water of a novel taste in their water bottles, and they developed an aversion to that flavor even months after the rats were deprived of the radiation experience.
The field of study on food aversion in humans then built on his work. It’s thought to be an evolutionary mechanism that helps humans and other animals avoid ingesting and processing foods they’ve already found to have potentially toxic characteristics.
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