Retrain your taste buds to love veg by stealth, says gut health guru Dr Megan Rossi 

You know that fruits and vegetables are good for you, and you know that you should eat more of them; the problem is the taste.

If that excuse sounds familiar, you’re not alone: ​​Taste is one of the most common reasons people at the clinic give me for not eating more fruits and vegetables.

The negative perception surrounding taste probably goes a long way to explaining why, in the UK, most people eat on average just around three and a half servings of fruit and vegetables a day.

My husband, who is a GP, was also not into fruit and vegetables when we met. So I worked my ‘science’ on it, and I hope it works for you too.

But before we get into the science, it’s worth noting that anything can taste bad if not prepared properly. Think of a rubbery, dry, overcooked steak.

So yes, some of the secrets to eating more fruits and vegetables lie in how we prepare them: There’s a world of difference between boiled Brussels sprouts and a creamy pesto packed with Brussels sprouts, walnuts, and Parmesan cheese.

Now to the science behind manipulating our taste preferences. I say ‘manipulate’ because our taste buds can evolve so that you really enjoy fruits and vegetables. Not convinced? Do you remember how as a child you hated the taste of coffee? Chances are, now you can’t start the day without it.

And it doesn’t take long to “re-educate” our sense of taste, either: Our taste buds, essentially a cluster of taste receptor cells, regenerate every ten days or so.

In fact, a 2019 study from Belgium found that just two weeks of eating more fiber-rich vegetables reduced people’s desire for sweet, salty and fatty foods, and they reported enjoying vegetables more.

You may not be surprised now to hear me say that bacteria also play a role.

In this case, it’s our oral microbiota: the microbes, including bacteria, fungi, and even some viruses, that live in our mouths.

Just as microbes ferment grapes into wine (and a host of delicious aromas), they do similar things with the food in your mouth.

Many of the different flavors in wine are due not only to the different grapes, but also to the types of microbes that do the fermentation.

Similarly, it is the difference in our oral microbes that probably explains at least some differences in taste perception between people. Different mouth microbes produce different aromas when we eat the same food, such as vegetables.

The good news is that, through diet, we can alter what lives in our mouths and therefore some of the flavors it produces.

This reinforces what I see in the clinic over and over again: changing our diet also changes our taste preferences.

The bottom line is that even if you don’t currently enjoy the taste of fruits and vegetables, you will. You just have to start! And if that means sneaking them into your diet for the first few weeks, until your taste buds accept the idea, I’m all for it.

But what about the cost of fruits and vegetables? It’s another common barrier that keeps people from eating more, and when processed foods are so cheap and the cost of living skyrockets, fresh produce can seem expensive.

Ways to avoid this include buying in season (and if you can, buying in bulk and then freezing).

And don’t disregard frozen fruits and vegetables: they’re packed with nutrients, as they’re flash frozen when picked. Cut-price products at the end of the day are still packed with fiber and nutrients. In some cases, it may contain more nutrients than when it hit the shelf. Research in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry showed that levels of anthocyanins (plant chemicals with antioxidant powers) increased in blackberries as they went from underripe to overripe.

And don’t forget canned tomatoes, olives, pickles, artichokes, and beans and legumes (but check the label for added sugar and salt).

You’ll notice I’m not saying ‘you should get your five a day’.

This is because the most important message is diversity: try to expand the range of plant foods you eat, because that way you will get the widest possible range of polyphenols, plant compounds with antioxidant powers (which help fight disease). and help you feel and look great—yes, polyphenols have been linked to reduced facial wrinkles, too.)

Here are some tasty ways to add more fruits and vegetables without noticing the difference in taste. Trust me, they work!

• Smoothie lover? Add some frozen cauliflower florets (you can get them precooked and frozen in most supermarkets). They are rich in sulforaphane, which has shown anti-cancer benefits (in animal studies). It will also give the smoothie a delicious creamy texture, and you won’t even taste it.
• No stew or stew should be complete without adding one more vegetable. Make a habit of adding any bruised or wilted vegetables to save your wallet and the environment.
• For mac and cheese lovers: Mash a cup of cooked butternut squash into the sauce. In addition to providing fiber, the beta-carotene in pumpkin supports immune function.
• Add a can of lentils to a Bolognese mix – the family won’t even notice! (For an added disguise, toss in the lentils first.) This will give the food a hint of prebiotics, which the ‘good’ gut bacteria love to feed on.
• Grate half a zucchini into an omelette or scrambled eggs; will not affect the joy of the egg.
• When baking muffins, grate a carrot and reduce the liquid by about 1/3 cup. The extra fiber can help reduce your blood sugar spike.
• On Friday night pizzas (whether you order or make your own), slice up a fresh tomato to add some skin-loving lycopene and vitamin C.
• For spaghetti carbonara, reduce the cream by half and mix with an equivalent weight of tofu (available in most supermarkets). Tofu, made from fermented soybeans, contains phytoestrogens, which are linked to reduced risk of breast cancer, and provides a lovely silky texture.
• Add a cup of frozen vegetables or half a can of lentils to your next Indian meal for an extra 6g of fiber. After a few months of training, my husband does it automatically. Proud wife moment.
• Grate a carrot and crumble the walnuts into your porridge for a delicious carrot cake flavor as well as added fiber and heart-healthy omega-3s.
• Replace half the oil or butter in your next pie with cooked apple, using the equivalent weight.
• Add a burst of flavor and fiber to your next summer salad with a few goji berries, blueberries, or pomegranate seeds.

TRY THIS: FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PANCAKE

In addition to adding extra fruits and vegetables, each serving of these pancakes will provide around 6g of fiber (a fifth of your daily needs).

Serves 8 (2 SERVINGS)

Ingredients

• 3 large eggs
• 1 ripe banana (approximately 100g)
• 50g porridge
• 100 g of cooked sweet potato
• Oil of your choice, for frying

METHOD

Place the eggs, banana, porridge, and sweet potato in a blender. Blitz for 1-2 minutes until smooth and a little foamy on top. Next, heat a large skillet with olive oil over low heat, then add about 60ml of batter per pancake. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until top of pancake begins to bubble and dries around edges; now it is ready to flip. Cook on the other side for a couple of minutes. Enjoy it with the toppings of your choice.