It’s a new year, and a new year usually means new lifestyle choices—beginning with our diets. But you may find that by mid-February, the diet you were trying out to help with gut inflammation or to calm your hormones has been thrown to the wayside.
Whether you’ve resolved to cut down on sugar or alcohol for overall reproductive health, ban seed oils or gluten to calm inflammation, or you’re simply making the shift to more whole foods over processed ones, changing your diet is one of the hardest New Year’s resolutions to stick to. But it’s not because you’re a failure or lack willpower—it’s because you have the wrong mindset.
Here’s how you can make some subtle but important shifts to your mindset around food and nutrition that may help you not just tolerate, but actually train your tastebuds to enjoy healthier foods.
Making lasting dietary changes
Health advice often assumes that our taste is fixed, and that discipline is the only way to power through a diet. But if you’ve always hated fish, or you can’t imagine going a whole day without a sugar fix, or the thought of kale makes you gag, the science shows that this doesn’t have to remain the case.
You don’t have to remain in the perpetual diet mindset in order to take your health and well-being seriously. In fact, finding pleasure in the foods you eat helps your metabolism and satisfaction after finishing a meal. But your attitude towards your eating habits must be one of an appetite for healthy food, not a mere tolerance of it.
A diet mindset says, “I have to eat these foods because I need to be healthy,” and—spoiler alert—it usually won’t last. To make lasting health changes, the mindset must be “I want to eat these foods because I like the way they taste and because they nourish me.”
A diet mindset says, “I have to eat these foods because I need to be healthy,” and—spoiler alert—it usually won’t last. To make lasting health changes, the mindset must be “I want to eat these foods because I like the way they taste and because they nourish me.”
The evolution of taste
Taste buds have a 10-14 day lifespan, and they detect five basic tastes: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami (savoury). While some tastes we naturally like, others we develop a liking for over time. Sweetness—think breastmilk—is safe and comforting, which is why all ages enjoy it. On the other hand, enjoyment of bitterness (as can be found in coffee, or really dark chocolate, certain vegetables, or alcohol) usually doesn’t develop until later in life.
Evolutionarily, it’s thought that the human preference for sour tastes—which, for most species, is aversive—is an adaptation which made “our ancestors more likely to be able to appreciate certain ripe or rotting fruits that contained acids that inhibit harmful microbes or even fruits that have been intentionally fermented. But it is also possible that our preference–aversion functions simply shifted to guide us to vitamin C” [1]. So, even as a species, our tastes have always been evolving—and for good reason!
But taste doesn’t come merely from the food itself. Smell, texture, memory, temperature, pungency, and context all affect one’s perception of taste—and these factors can change over time [2]. Your Midwestern grandma’s lasagna may not be the greatest lasagna objectively-speaking, but your comfort and memory of her making it for you may lead you to associate a better “taste” with hers than a lasagna from even the most authentic Italian restaurant.
Scientists have also found that genetics influence what foods we like [3]. In one study on children’s eating habits, researchers found that preference for nutrient-dense foods like vegetables, fruit, and protein follow genetic patterns, whereas “nurture,” or environmental effects, more strongly influence one’s liking for certain snacks, dairies, and starches [4].
Developing a taste for new foods
Despite the relationship genetics play in taste, they don’t determine our eating habits. Repeated exposure to certain foods can actually change neural patterns and shift the tastes we perceive. While everyone has genes that correlate with sensitivities to certain tastes, studies also show that role modeling of certain foods and exposure in social settings can change—or even reverse—a dislike of certain foods [4] [5]. For those wondering how many times they have to gut through eating something they detest: it takes about 10-15 exposures for taste buds to become accustomed to a new taste and begin shifting preference. Personal experience often reflects this research. Many people report that mindset and repeated exposure genuinely change what they like over time.
Despite the relationship genetics play in taste, they don’t determine our eating habits. Repeated exposure to certain foods can actually change neural patterns and shift the tastes we perceive.
The psychological stance we take toward food also matters. Just as people tend to like certain foods simply because they are familiar, aversions can develop when certain tastes are associated with stress, pressure, or the moralization of food choices. Elevated cortisol levels heighten bitterness perception, making certain foods harder to tolerate during periods of chronic stress [6]. This is why calm exposure to new foods is key, not only for making changes to your diet, but for sustaining them.
Taste also changes across the seasons of life (as any pregnant woman can surely attest to!). Hormones influence taste sensitivity and smell, and key reproductive hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone can directly influence taste and smell receptors. Estrogen receptors exist on the outside of taste buds and influence their regeneration.
Cycles, pregnancy, postpartum seasons, and healing phases all matter when it comes to taste. Women’s hormones, which exist on a cyclical rhythm, can even affect the tastes a woman likes during different phases of her menstrual cycle. It may be that our bodies react to the nutrients they need in different phases—which might be why chocolate tastes better right before you’re on your period, or sweet potato fries or a donut may satisfy a craving in your luteal phase, but not hit quite the same at other times in your cycle.
Making new changes stick
If you’ve decided that 2026 is the year you make (and stick to) healthier dietary shifts, remember that discipline isn’t the goal. Following through with new nutritional choices requires consistency and self-control, but simply forcing new foods down for “health goals” isn’t going to lead you to success. Remember that the data shows that white-knuckling food choices can increase stress, reinforce aversion, and disconnect us from hunger and satiety cues. Taste adaptation works best when exposure is gentle, the nervous system feels safe, and there is no moral pressure attached to eating.
So how can you begin to “train your taste buds” in a way that works with your body instead of against it? Consider masking tastes you don’t like with herbs and spices, preparing foods in new ways (yes, sautéing, roasting, steaming, or boiling can make a huge difference in the final outcomes of even the same exact foods!), and be sure try a wider range of foods each day. Even learning how to cook whole-food, fresh versions of your go-to takeout or fast-food meals can be a good place to start. Finally, only eat when you’re hungry, and—whenever possible—eat in positive social contexts with family or friends.
Your body is responsive to the foods you eat. If you’re serious about changing your diet for 2026, you don’t need to power through meals with disgust. Start slow, and start with a plan. You may never grow to like a certain food—and that’s okay. When we approach food with patience rather than pressure, we discover that our bodies are not stubborn or broken—but responsive, capable of learning to enjoy what truly nourishes them.
