About TASTE

[Papa Jack 86]

I saw on Dr OZ talk about taste. Say's bad fat will affect our taste buds & make them work less. By getting off of the bad fats our taste buds come back.

I think this is what happened to us who have a greater taste since the surgery. We are eatting right & WOW! The taste on everything is strong. What do you think?

[RickM 1,753]

I don't know about the validity of those claims, but I have been evolving my diet for several years, minimizing the bad fats and carbs while emphasizing the good fats, carbs and Proteins - I haven't noticed a significant change in the taste of things post-op (the past 4 1/2 months) while others have reported significant taste changes. So, there might be something to it, or it might just be another one of those variations between us all. My wife experienced numerous taste changes after her DS several years ago - not specifically intensity as this claim implies but more of an alteration in preferences - is that a function of the metabolic changes brought about by the intestinal rework of the DS, or was our dietary evoluton less advanced at that time? Our diets did not change markedly after her surgery, mostly just the volume that she could have (just like with mine after the VSG) yet her tastes changed and mine did not at that time.

Too many variables to contemplate early on Sunday morning - my brain is starting to smoke! There might be something to it. Maybe. Something to think about, though.

[SKCUNNINGHAM 298]

I think my taste and sense of smell have changed since my surgery. I really enjoy the natural sweetness of certain foods - baby carrots, scallops, sugar snap peas, etc. I am really enjoying the taste of steamed squash with just the tiniest hint of butter and lightly salted. I haven't been eating any white carbs or high fat / high sugar foods, so I guess I have learned to appreciate the subtle pleasures of what I am eating. I do think my body only appreciates the "good" foods if I stay away from the "bad" foods.

I had 1" of a twice-baked potato half last weekend. When I put that potatoe-y / cheesy bite in my mouth, I thought I could hear angels singing! Truly it tasted wonderful. But I had eaten my 3 oz. of Protein and had eaten a veggie serving, and stopped at 3 bites of the potatoe. Any more and I would have passed the full point where I stop eating.

My sense of smell has gotten very acute. I can smell chocolate if there is any around me. I can smell sugary candies if I get anywhere close to them. Kind of funny, really.

[MegInNOLA 531]

I totally agree about enhanced senses--I think it's a mechanism our bodies use because they think we're starving (and in a way, we are, but for healthful reasons). It seems like post-surgery, my senses of smell and taste are super keen, and they were great to begin with; it's like my body is saying, "Hey, doesn't that smell good--go eat something!" I seem to recall reading at some point that our bodies want to hold onto all the excess as a form of protection against starvation during times of famine or adversity. It's not very useful now, of course, in this age of plenty, but those old physiological triggers still kick in when we start losing weight.

I definitely notice flavors and scents now with much more detail. I wrote in another post, and it happened again this morning, that when I walk my dog, I can smell my neighbor's coffee brewing (and we're running the air conditioning down here in south Louisiana, so it's not that the smell is blowing out their windows). I can't tolerate having trash in the trash can or dirty dishes in the sink, because I can literally smell them.

On the plus side having nothing to do with food, I have re-ignited my love of good perfume. And my husband's cologne smells super fantastic!!

[emily_0192010 168]

Well I am only a week post-op, but my taste buds have changed. I have been low-carb for months now, but after the surgery all of the sudden anything that is sweet tastes disgustingly sweet. For the first time I can actually taste when something has an artificial sweetener in it, which just about everything does. sugar free popsicles just about made me sick. I noticed yesterday that even my bottled Water has a subtle sweetness to it that now disgusts me. I have taken to adding lemon (like straight lemon juice) to my water just to be able to get it down. I am hoping that this is temporary, because it is very annoying. It definitely surprised me!

[Rootman 1,101]

YES, my tastes are definitely different. I was chatting with someone else who had a VSG and they noted the same thing, they said it was just like after they stopped smoking and food tasted SOOO much better, in fact that's when they gained most of their excess weight, they mentioned that about 3 or 4 months post-op they experienced the same thing, flavors just really POP now.

[mythreechildren2001 7]

Same here...especially with sweets. I was a major sugar addict before, but now anything sweet has lost its appeal. Whatever the reason, I so very, very thankful!!