A strange title for a blog post I must admit but it was tucking into a half pink grapefruit this morning that made me realise how far I have come in re-adjusting my palate over the past few years.
Childhood memories
Grapefruit for me is the fruit of my grandparents. When my sister and I used to stay at their house in York or stay at their caravan during the summer holidays in Skegness we would often be presented with half a grapefruit for breakfast. And it would taste so sour that we would have to beg Nanna to sprinkle it with sugar on top, just to make it bearable to eat.
And yet today this half grapefruit didn’t taste sour at all. In fact I would say that it almost tasted sweet! Without any added sugar or sweetener.
Sugar strikes!
Over the past couple of years as I have become more and more hooked on exercising and eating well then I came to understand and evaluate just how much sugar I was eating on a daily basis. Not just the obvious sugar related stuff like chocolate, sweetened and milky coffees and sweets but also in other products where the sugar is either hidden or you are told the product is ‘no added sugar’ but is instead laden with artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or maltitol. These ingredients, particularly in processed foods are everywhere and we as consumers are by and large unaware, particularly when the clever marketing messages are making us think we are making healthier choices.
It was nearly three years ago after I had lost over a stone in weight through exercising and doing the 5:2 diet for a couple of months that I realised nutrition was so important and that it wasn’t enough just restricting my calorie intake, I needed to overhaul my eating plans and cut out all forms of sugar from my diet as far as possible.
Making Changes
On the whole this has been successful and I feel great for doing so! Don’t get me wrong – I am still human do occasionally indulge in the odd piece of cake/biscuit/chocolate. However what I have found is that often the things I used to eat and enjoy now just taste far too sweet and artificial. Last Christmas I left the chocolates to one side and instead was craving mince pies and Christmas pudding as my indulgence – more natural fruit based products.
Also I enjoy and can appreciate much more the taste of many other foods and genuinely believe that my palate has adapted for the better. I savour food much more than I did in the past.
So take the grapefruit test – how does it taste to you?
And if you want to make it taste sweet over time then it’s never too late to start making changes to your diet for the better with gradually reducing your sugar intake Believe me your body and your mind will thank you for it!
Victoria Boldison 