Can love alter your taste buds?
Yep! Research proves that love (whether you’re happy or not) can alter your taste buds. A study published in Appetite in 2019 indicated that the longer a couple is together, the more they share the same food preferences. Surprising? It shouldn’t be. We’ve heard throughout our lives that people who are in love or long-term relationships develop similar facial features and pick up one another habits, so is it too farfetched that couples can develop a taste for the same foods throughout time in their relationship?
The ‘food and relationship’ study tested 100 couples aged 18 to 68 years who have been together between 3 and 540 months. Researchers discovered that the longer a couple had been together, the more likely they were to be attracted to the same smells and foods. The researchers achieved this by giving each couple a series of flavors (sweet, bitter, sour, smokey, salty, and more) to taste and smell. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense that couples who have years in the bank would eat the same foods, burn the same scented candles, and enjoy the same beverages. Yes, compatibility can dwindle after years together—divorce rates are crazy! But this study and others before it shows that compatibility is likely to increase in certain aspects of relationships.
I can’t confirm or deny this study personally, but I can attest to it being the case for other couples, such as my mother and her husband. It took a few years, but they began to look alike, act alike, talk alike, and even sleep in the same position as their relationship progressed. 2023 will be their 35th anniversary, and they still indulge in many of the same foods and beverages. Remember that these couple’s taste buds changed organically; their partner didn’t force it. That said, do you enjoy what your partner enjoys because you became interested? Or was it a sacrificial act (Even though I don’t want to, I’ll eat it to make them happy)? Or maybe it was more of an ‘I have a taste for it now because that’s all they eat or cook’? Or do you believe that the study is a bunch of crap?
Let us know in the comment section!
