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liquid_at t1_j01tt8b wrote

there are definitely psychological components to liking and disliking smells, but afaik the common explanation is that those of us who happened to develop a dislike for bad things just happened to improve their survival rate, causing their own genome to become more dominant than the genome of those that ate rotten food.

Same reason why a taste for salty, spicy or bitter food was preferred by evolution. Those who used additives in their food that preserved them were less likely to poison themselves.

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horsetuna t1_j056tfd wrote

Iirc salt cravings and finding salty foods tasty can actually be a sign of salt deficiency. So your body 'makes' you find it even more delicious until you are topped up. But other times the same salty chips may be revolting.

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liquid_at t1_j064ser wrote

definitely. When you crave some specific food, it's usually your body telling you that it needs those nutrients right now.

gets a bit skewed with highly processed food, but the body is smart in that way.

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horsetuna t1_j07ebor wrote

I've often wondered what my body craves then when it really really wants a cheese burger.

Oh wait is that the highly processed part?

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jpbarber414 t1_j03r0z1 wrote

A common one is cilantro, these people have a variation in a group of olfactory-receptor genes that allows them to strongly perceive the soapy-flavored aldehydes in cilantro leaves. This genetic quirk is usually only found in a small percent of the population, though it varies geographically. Interestingly, places where cilantro is especially popular, such as Central America and India, have fewer people with these genes, which might explain how the herb was able to become such a mainstay in those regions. East Asians have the highest incidence of this variation, with some studies showing that nearly 20% of the population experiences soapy-tasting cilantro. https://www.britannica.com/story/why-does-cilantro-taste-like-soap-to-some-people

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