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Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Released Tuesday, 18th April 2023
Good episode? Give it some love!
Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Why do we like some foods, but not others?

Tuesday, 18th April 2023
Good episode? Give it some love!
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Episode Transcript

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0:00

Hey friends, it's Molly and I'm so

0:02

excited because this Thursday is National

0:04

High Five Day and you know how much we love

0:06

giving and getting high fives across the Brains

0:09

On universe. Right now we're looking for 500

0:12

fans to give us a high five to celebrate.

0:15

That's a lot of high fives. We're going

0:17

to need your help to get there. Give

0:19

your high five by donating $5 to these public media

0:22

podcasts today. It's super easy

0:24

and quick at brainson.org slash

0:26

high five.

0:32

You're listening to Brains On where

0:34

we're serious about being curious. Brains

0:37

On is supported in part

0:39

by a grant from the National

0:41

Science Foundation. Hi,

0:46

my name is Berry. I'm a speck

0:48

of black pepper and I have a dream.

0:51

My dream is to season

0:54

food. I've been waiting weeks,

0:57

but tonight I believe I will finally

0:59

fulfill my destiny of being eaten.

1:03

Maybe I'll land on the plate of a gentle

1:05

soul who can't believe how well their food is seasoned.

1:08

Maybe they'll take a bite and say, Mm,

1:12

is that berry the speck of black pepper

1:14

in there? Wow,

1:15

so yummy. Oh

1:19

my gosh, it's happening. Here

1:22

I go. Wait,

1:29

this plate is plastic and

1:31

it's hot pink. Am I on

1:34

baby Jenna's plate? Oh,

1:36

man. Baby

1:38

Jenna is a little hesitant when it comes to

1:40

new foods. On a good day, she puts

1:42

a little in her mouth and tries it. On

1:44

a bad day, the food ends up on

1:47

the floor. Okay,

1:50

okay, Berry, you can do this. It's strategy

1:53

time. We've got a small clump

1:55

of cottage cheese over here, a pile

1:57

of steamed broccoli over there, and three...

2:00

sweet potato nuggets. Okay, Barry, think,

2:02

come on, Barry. Pepper obviously tastes

2:04

incredible on all three. Maybe

2:07

I'll scoot over here and

2:09

attach myself to the sweet potato nug. But

2:11

wait, the outside, it's kinda crusty

2:14

and I might fall off. Better try the cottage

2:16

cheese. Baby Jenna loves her some fresh

2:18

curd. Mm,

2:21

this feels cool and silky, like

2:23

one of those very expensive dairy spa

2:26

treatments like they have in Switzerland. Wait,

2:28

hold on. At least

2:29

half the cottage cheese usually ends up on her

2:32

face. I don't like those odds.

2:34

All right, broccoli it is. Perfect.

2:40

I'll just nestle right in here in the treetops

2:42

of this tall fellow. Baby

2:44

Jenna loves steamed veggies. Heh,

2:47

heh, heh, heh, heh. Oh

2:50

my gosh, she chose my piece. Her

2:52

mouth is wide open. Here I

2:54

go. Go!

2:57

It's everything I ever wanted!

3:08

["The Miley

3:12

Cyrus Song"]

3:12

You're listening to Brains On from 8PM Studios.

3:15

I'm Molly Bloom and my co-host today is Nishka

3:17

from Toronto. Hi Nishka.

3:20

Hi Molly. Oh Nishka, you

3:22

wrote to us with a really great question. What was

3:24

it? I wanted to know why some

3:26

people like certain foods and others don't.

3:29

I love this question. What made

3:31

you think of it? Well, one day I

3:33

was eating dinner with my family and

3:35

we were all eating food and my parents really

3:37

liked it and I didn't and I wondered why. Do

3:40

you remember what it was? You were all eating? I

3:43

think it was some form of rice. Mm,

3:46

and your parents were like, this is the best. And you were like,

3:48

ugh, no thank you. Yeah.

3:52

What is your favorite food? My

3:55

favorite food is noodles. Ugh,

3:57

I love noodles as well. Do you have a favorite kind of noodle?

4:00

A favorite kind of noodle,

4:02

probably stir-fry noodles.

4:05

I like some sort of sauce, like Shazuan

4:07

sauce, and some vegetables,

4:09

but not a lot.

4:10

Okay. My favorite noodle is

4:12

noodles with cottage cheese. Ooh,

4:15

yum. And it is delicious. Thank you for

4:17

saying that, because a lot of people, when they hear about it, they're like, ish.

4:20

And I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, you have to try it. You're going to love it.

4:23

So what's something you really still don't like

4:25

to eat?

4:27

Something I don't like to eat. I

4:29

don't like cucumbers. Cucumbers?

4:32

Yes. Why? What about them

4:34

don't you like? They're just like 90% water,

4:38

and the other 10% is

4:40

like bad flavored water. So

4:44

it sounds like maybe it's the texture and the flavor

4:46

are both not your thing. Yeah.

4:49

I get it. And you can't really

4:51

cook cucumbers, because

4:53

people don't really cook them. Will

4:56

you eat a pickle though? Will you eat a pickled cucumber? I

4:58

will eat pickles, yes. OK.

5:01

It is very, very normal for

5:03

kids to be choosy about what they eat. Teenagers

5:06

and adults can be picky too.

5:08

And there's a reason why our bodies don't

5:11

like every new food right away. Our

5:13

human ancestors. The ones that

5:15

were around a long, long, long, long, long,

5:17

long, long time ago before grocery

5:20

stores or even farms.

5:22

They didn't necessarily know which plants

5:24

were safety and which ones would make

5:26

them sick. A lot of the poisonous

5:29

greens and berries would taste bitter

5:31

or sour. So we learned over time

5:33

to be careful with things that taste bitter

5:36

or sour. And our bodies can still

5:38

be suspicious of these flavors today, at least

5:41

at first.

5:42

These days, humans have figured out

5:44

which foods are poisonous and which ones

5:47

are safe. But that doesn't

5:49

mean our bodies are ready to like every

5:51

food, even if we know they're safe to

5:53

eat. That's because eating is

5:55

an intense experience. It involves

5:58

all of our senses. of people

6:00

say, oh, just take a bite. Well, they

6:02

don't realize there's a lot of things that

6:04

go into taking a bite. You're seeing it, you're

6:07

smelling it, you're touching it, you're

6:09

going to feel it in your mouth.

6:11

There's so many different things and they get to chew it, right?

6:14

And then you also have to swallow it. All those

6:16

are different things. So you just need time for

6:18

your body to learn to get used to those things.

6:21

That's Jennifer Anderson. I'm

6:23

a registered dietitian, mom of two

6:25

boys. Jennifer also founded

6:28

an organization called Kids Eat in

6:30

Color. It helps kids and families as

6:32

they're trying out new foods. She says

6:34

it's very normal for kids to not

6:36

like foods where all the ingredients

6:39

are all mixed up. They might prefer to

6:41

have each individual food in its own

6:43

separate part of the plate.

6:45

That's because young eaters want to

6:47

know what they're going to get with every bite.

6:49

Being surprised can be a little unpleasant

6:51

when you're learning to like new foods.

6:54

And young kids usually want foods that

6:56

are consistent. In other words,

6:58

foods that are basically the same every

7:01

time you eat them. Blueberries

7:03

might be tricky, for example, because sometimes

7:05

they're really sweet, but other times

7:07

they taste really sour.

7:10

No mouth surprises, please. So

7:12

the adults around you might say, you're

7:14

a picky eater. But Jennifer thinks of

7:17

it another way.

7:18

Picky eater just means, hey, I

7:20

need more time to learn to like a food. And

7:23

maybe I need two more years than

7:25

you do to learn to like a food. But

7:27

that doesn't mean anything bad about me. That

7:30

doesn't mean I can't learn to like foods. I

7:32

do think it's helpful to

7:36

think about yourself as someone who is

7:38

learning to like new foods, because you might

7:40

want to go to a birthday party or you may

7:42

want to go to an outing with your friends. And

7:44

they may have foods that you don't recognize. And

7:47

if you've been practicing learning to

7:49

like new foods over time, you might find

7:52

that when you get to that setting, you

7:54

might be able to try it.

7:55

And that will help you feel less

7:58

stressed out when go

8:00

somewhere and you don't know what's

8:02

going to be served there.

8:06

The first step to learning to like a new food

8:08

is seeing that new food. Maybe

8:10

you see it in the kitchen, see your parents

8:13

eating it, see it in the garden. Maybe

8:15

you even see it in a book or a movie. Then

8:18

maybe you'll smell it or touch it before

8:21

eating it. The more you're exposed

8:23

to a new food, the more likely you are

8:25

to eventually try that food. Trying

8:28

new foods when you're really hungry is also

8:30

super helpful. If you see a new

8:32

food in the morning when you first wake up,

8:34

or maybe right when you get home

8:36

from school, you're hungry and your body

8:38

will be more likely to give it a chance. And

8:41

you can think about what that new food is doing

8:43

for your body.

8:45

So when your parent

8:48

says, hey, I want

8:50

you to eat broccoli because it's

8:53

good for you. You might be thinking,

8:56

what does that mean? Broccoli

8:59

has calcium in it. That's going to go to build

9:01

your bones. It

9:04

has all these green compounds

9:06

in them. That helps your body fight off sickness.

9:10

It does a whole bunch of things. If I

9:12

tell that to my sons, if I

9:14

tell that to you, then you can

9:16

think, maybe

9:18

it's worth

9:19

looking at it. Maybe it's worth smelling it. Maybe

9:22

it's worth touching it. Maybe it's worth giving

9:24

it a taste because every single

9:26

food that is showing up on my plate at

9:29

school, at home, anywhere,

9:32

they're

9:32

all going to do different things. And the more

9:34

different foods I can learn to eat, the

9:37

better that my body is going to run.

9:40

And the more things that my body is

9:42

going to be able to do. Another

9:44

thing you can do is try the same food prepared

9:47

in different ways. Like

9:49

maybe you can't stand fried eggs, but you

9:51

love them scrambled. That

9:55

is so true. doing

10:00

here and did you just jump out of the

10:02

air vent in the ceiling? Molly, you

10:05

know I'm always hanging out in the air vents at

10:07

brains on headquarters, listening to other

10:09

people's conversations and waiting to

10:11

pop out. I put it on my resume

10:13

when I applied for this job, remember, highly

10:16

skilled at popping out events? I'm

10:19

basically the John McClain of kids podcasting.

10:21

Oh yeah.

10:23

I happened to hear you and Nishka

10:25

talking about why we like the foods

10:27

we like, and I actually just

10:29

got back from talking with a bunch of kids

10:32

about this exact thing.

10:34

You were talking to kids in the air

10:36

vents? No, no, no, no, no, that's

10:38

silly. The acoustics up there are terrible

10:41

for talking. I actually met them at a cooking

10:43

class in St. Louis, Missouri. One

10:45

of the first people I ran into when I got

10:48

there was Sawyer. She's a 10-year-old

10:50

chef who was leading the cooking class with her

10:52

dad, and she was stirring this big

10:55

steaming pot of brown liquid.

10:58

We are making the chicken

11:00

broth for the pork

11:03

that we're going to make later, and what

11:05

we have to do is just get

11:07

some water and then chicken broth and then dissolve

11:09

it into it. Sawyer sounds like she knows

11:12

her way around the kitchen. She definitely does.

11:14

She grew up working in kitchens with her dad, Josh,

11:17

who's also a chef. And for her,

11:19

there's something really cool about

11:21

taking a bunch of raw ingredients

11:24

and turning them into something new and delicious.

11:27

So what were they making in the cooking class?

11:30

Oh, a bunch of stuff. There were seven

11:32

kid chefs there, and each one was making

11:34

something different. One was chopping

11:36

up strawberries for a fizzy ginger

11:39

punch. Another was making these

11:41

big, payloady biscuits. And

11:44

one kid was even slicing up sausage from

11:46

maple pineapple kebabs. That

11:48

sounds so good.

11:51

I wish we were there right now. Sipping

11:53

fizzy ginger punch. I

11:57

know. The kitchen smelled amazing.

12:00

much better than the air vents, by the way. And

12:02

here's the thing, these kid chefs all

12:05

really love food, but even they

12:07

had pretty strong likes and dislikes.

12:11

I like most foods except like

12:13

stuff with fat or

12:15

like chicken with fat, or

12:18

and I don't like pulpy. Orange,

12:21

shrimp. It's

12:23

plain, it's a more mini taste. Ketchup.

12:26

I mean, I don't like the smell and it tastes exactly

12:29

like it smells. Well,

12:31

I don't really like ice cream, but my friends do.

12:33

I

12:35

think it's kind of cool how we all have such

12:38

different food preferences. Everybody's

12:40

a little different in terms of what they like,

12:42

like how our fingerprints are all unique, except

12:45

each of us likes a different mix of foods.

12:48

Yeah, I talked to Sawyer about that, the

12:50

kid chef who was leading the class, and

12:53

she was telling me about some of the things she

12:55

likes that her friends think are gross.

12:58

I like peas. My

13:00

brother and sister hate peas. My friends

13:02

hate peas, and I don't know why.

13:04

I totally get that. I'm not a

13:06

huge pea fan. I mean, I won't cross

13:09

the street if I see peas coming towards

13:11

me on the sidewalk, but I'm not like seeking

13:14

them out, you know? Still, every now

13:16

and then I've had them and thought, whoa,

13:18

these peas are incredible.

13:20

Just because of the way they were cooked? Yeah,

13:23

I had this pea soup once that tasted

13:26

just like spring. Super

13:28

green and fresh and delicious.

13:31

And Sawyer told me she's had a pretty similar

13:34

experience. She used to really

13:36

dislike sushi because the raw

13:38

fish seemed slimy to her, but

13:41

she discovered she actually loves sushi

13:43

if the fish is cooked.

13:45

My taste buds have changed a lot. So

13:48

if, like, whenever you were younger, you had,

13:50

like, something and it was disgusting,

13:52

it might have just been because of the situation you were

13:55

in. So, like, later, when

13:57

you grow up a little more, you'll get it

13:59

from different places.

13:59

and they'll do it like a better

14:02

way, and it'll taste different, and then you'll

14:04

end up liking it. So when you're

14:06

talking about a food you don't like, try

14:09

adding the word yet. So,

14:11

like, I don't like cucumbers.

14:14

Yet.

14:15

I don't like raw onion. Yet.

14:18

And I don't like licorice-flavored jello.

14:21

Yet. There might still be some

14:23

foods that you never like, and

14:25

that's totally okay. Oh,

14:28

oops, I gotta go. I told Mr. Bonejangles,

14:31

our resident dancing and sock-stealing

14:33

skeleton, we'd go explore the air

14:35

vents in the West Wing of Brains On headquarters.

14:39

Legend has it there's a dust bunny

14:41

up there that looks just like John

14:43

McClain. Bye!

14:49

Brains

14:51

On! We're

14:55

going to chat more about our likes and dislikes

14:58

in a bit, but first it's time for

15:00

the... Shh!

15:02

Mystery style! Ninshka,

15:08

are you ready to hear it? Yep. All

15:11

right, here it is. Okay.

15:36

What do you think? Maybe

15:39

someone, like, eating something slowly?

15:43

Mm, I will give you a little hint. It does

15:45

have to do with food. Would

15:47

you like to hear it again? Yes, please.

16:13

Okay, what are your new thoughts? It

16:15

kind of sounds like a carrot, like someone's

16:18

really, really slowly cutting a carrot.

16:22

It's a sloth cutting a carrot. Yes.

16:25

I love it. We'll be back with

16:27

another chance to guess and to hear the answer

16:30

after the credits.

16:34

Hey friends, we're working on an episode

16:36

about how creatures would evolve on other

16:39

planets. So, we want you

16:41

to do a little dreaming with us. Imagine

16:44

you find life on another planet. How

16:47

would that life greet you? What

16:49

would it sound like in their language to say hi?

16:52

Would they even have language? Or would they greet

16:54

you another way? If

16:57

you found a living creature on another planet,

17:00

how do you imagine they would say hi? I

17:03

think they would go

17:04

like zorp, blorp,

17:06

zorp.

17:10

I like that a lot. Zorp, glorp,

17:12

zorp. It was kind of musical. Oh

17:14

yeah. They're very musical creatures.

17:17

Do you have a picture in your mind of what they look like?

17:20

So they would all be like

17:23

very long and their

17:25

legs would curl up into a ball like a music

17:27

note. Oh, I

17:30

love this creature. Very nice

17:32

work. Well, listeners, we want to hear how

17:34

you imagine an alien creature would say

17:36

hi. Zorp, glorp, zorp.

17:39

Record yourself and send it to

17:40

us at brainson.org slash contact.

17:43

While you're there, you can also send us some mystery sounds, drawings,

17:46

high fives, and questions. Like this

17:48

one. My name is Hanley Lines from

17:50

Crookland, Washington, and my

17:53

question is, what

17:56

if a tornado goes

17:57

through a hurricane?

18:00

find an answer to that question on our Moment of

18:02

Ump podcast. It's a daily dose of

18:04

facts and curiosity you can find wherever

18:06

you listen to Brains On. Again, send

18:09

us your questions and alien greetings

18:11

at brainson.org slash contact.

18:14

And keep listening.

18:19

Today's episode is sponsored by Indeed.

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19:27

If you're listening to Brains On from APM

19:29

Studios, I'm Nishka. And

19:31

I'm Molly. Like Jennifer Anderson told

19:34

us earlier, our bodies need all sorts

19:36

of different things to be able to grow, run,

19:38

think, dance, play, learn,

19:41

fart,

19:42

everything. You can think of different

19:44

kinds of foods like the superheroes of your

19:46

body. Here

19:49

in Bodyville, population

19:51

you, there is a team of

19:53

superheroes ready to leap into action

19:56

whenever you sit down to eat. When

19:58

you eat meat or beans or

19:59

or nuts or eggs or tofu, you're

20:02

unlocking the power of Professor Protein.

20:06

I provide the building blocks that help

20:08

you grow from the inside

20:10

out. Your bones, organs,

20:12

muscles, hair, even your

20:15

fingernails. That's me, Professor

20:17

Protein. The gateway to growth.

20:20

And here comes the next member of our superhero

20:23

squad. He's found in foods

20:25

like butter, cheese, and

20:27

avocados. I'm Fat

20:30

Man. Your brain needs me

20:32

to grow. Your energy needs me

20:34

to be stored. Wherever you go,

20:36

whatever you do, I'm right there

20:39

in the shadows. I'm Fat

20:42

Man. Na na na na

20:44

na na na na na na na na na na na na na

20:46

na Fat Man.

20:47

Next we've got Starch

20:49

Man. He's everywhere his grainy

20:51

or sweet friends go. We're talking

20:54

bread, crackers, oatmeal, sweet

20:57

potatoes. Hi friends.

21:00

I have the energy you need to be able to jump like this. Woo

21:02

hoo, do cartwheels. We do

21:05

roundhouse kicks. Running

21:07

circles waving your hands and screaming

21:08

for hours. Ah, I

21:11

have so much energy.

21:16

And rounding out this team of body buddies,

21:18

we have the Rainbow Squad.

21:21

That's right. Fruit and veggies

21:24

of every color. We all

21:26

do different things because we all have different vitamins

21:28

and minerals. And we love sharing them

21:30

with you. Ben, the

21:32

more colors you eat, the more powers

21:35

your body will have. Come on

21:37

team on three. One, two,

21:40

three. Rainbow Squad.

21:43

Orange.

21:44

I mean Rainbow Squad. Professor

21:47

Protein, Fat Man, Starch Man, and

21:49

the Rainbow Squad are here to make

21:52

body bill as strong as it can

21:54

be.

21:54

So why would you churn away

21:56

their help? Come on team, we've

21:59

got work to do. to the Fat Game!

22:07

Brainsaw! Not

22:13

only is food super delicious, it's working

22:16

super hard for our bodies. All foods are

22:18

superheroes. But have you

22:20

heard of Super Tasters? Super

22:24

Tasters! Whoa,

22:28

what was that? I don't

22:30

know. It always plays when we say the word

22:32

Super Taster.

22:33

Super Taster! Anyway,

22:38

for these people, the flavors of different foods

22:40

can be very strong. So

22:43

instead of something tasting a little bitter... It's

22:46

bitter! It's like turning the

22:48

volume up but on flavor. We

22:50

talked with Bill Sullivan about this. He's

22:52

a microbiologist, which means

22:55

he studies tiny microscopic organisms

22:57

like parasites. And he's

23:00

also a Super Taster. Super

23:03

Taster!

23:06

Not too long ago, Bill got really

23:08

curious about some foods that he just

23:10

couldn't learn to like.

23:12

This was way more intense than having

23:14

a strong dislike of something. Yeah,

23:17

there were a bunch of vegetables that always

23:19

taste really, really bad

23:21

to him, even though he's tried them

23:24

lots of times.

23:25

Broccoli is one of the major offenders that I

23:27

just could not stand. I couldn't even

23:30

be in the room when it was being cooked because

23:33

the odor would just upset

23:35

my stomach. It was just awful

23:37

to me.

23:39

Similar things with

23:41

cauliflower and Brussels spouts. But

23:43

spinach, asparagus,

23:47

snap peas, no problem. So

23:49

it wasn't everything green. He

23:52

thought he was the only one like this

23:54

until he was an adult and he saw an episode

23:57

of a TV show called Seinfeld. There's

23:59

a

23:59

very famous... episode that kids'

24:01

parents probably remember very well, where

24:04

one of the characters was challenged to eat

24:06

a piece of broccoli and he just reacted

24:09

the same way I would have. Like,

24:11

get that vegetable away from me, I'm

24:13

not going to put that vile weed

24:16

into my mouth. Vile weed!

24:20

Knowing there were other people like him out there

24:22

made him very curious. And

24:24

since he's a researcher, he started investigating

24:27

what was going on with science.

24:30

I found research by

24:32

some scientists that characterize

24:34

people like me, who can't stand broccoli,

24:37

as a supertaster. And

24:39

I know a supertaster, it kind of sounds

24:41

like a superpower, right? You taste

24:43

things really, really well. But it's not

24:45

really a superpower because it alters

24:49

the menu.

24:50

And for about 25% of

24:52

the population, that's how many

24:54

supertasters there are. That

24:56

means if you grabbed four random people

24:58

off the street, there's a good chance one of them

25:01

is a supertaster.

25:03

Supertaster! It

25:06

turns out they taste things differently because

25:08

of a change in their genes.

25:11

Genes are the instructions in our cells

25:13

that tell our bodies how to work.

25:15

And supertasters… Supertaster!

25:20

Have a gene that gives them more taste

25:22

buds.

25:23

Taste buds are tiny little bumps on

25:25

your tongue that help you taste different flavors,

25:27

like salty, sweet, and sour. But

25:30

Bill says it's not just that they have more taste

25:32

buds, it's also that they have

25:35

more of a certain kind of flavor

25:37

receptor cell in their taste

25:39

buds. But this one

25:40

in particular that supertasters

25:43

suffer from coats

25:45

the tongue with that extra amount of

25:48

taste buds that can recognize bitter

25:50

chemicals.

25:51

These bitter chemicals are

25:53

in lots of foods like grapefruit,

25:55

dark chocolate, and cabbage. Bill

25:57

got a genetic test and found out he has.

25:59

the Super Taster gene.

26:01

Super Taster!

26:05

But there's another test you can do at home. All

26:09

you need is some blue food coloring and

26:11

a piece of paper that has a hole punch in it, like

26:14

you would need for a three-ring binder. With

26:16

the

26:16

help of your parents, use

26:19

a little blue food coloring and

26:21

paint your tongue a slightly

26:23

blue color. It counterstains

26:26

your taste buds. Your taste buds will

26:28

remain pink. They won't stain with this

26:30

blue dye. And basically you

26:32

can put that little hole punch over

26:34

top a small portion of your tongue and with

26:37

a magnifying

26:37

glass, have someone

26:39

count the number of taste buds

26:42

in that ring. And if you count

26:44

more than 30 in that

26:47

circle, you're a Super Taster.

26:49

Scientists

26:50

are still learning about the instructions

26:53

carried in our genes. And Bill thinks

26:55

there will be a lot of new information in the coming

26:57

years about why certain people may like or

26:59

dislike certain foods based on their genes.

27:02

There's also some new research about

27:04

how the tiny, tiny bacteria living

27:07

on and in us might change

27:09

our likes and dislikes too. Our

27:11

mouths and throat and noses are full

27:14

of friendly bacteria. They love

27:16

to help us break down the foods we're eating. You

27:18

start to chew that food up and

27:20

vapors are released. Those bacteria

27:23

can break the chemicals in those vapors

27:25

down and give people a

27:27

different taste sensation. So

27:30

if you have different bacteria in your mouth

27:32

from your friend, you

27:34

may be eating the same food but

27:37

having a very different taste experience.

27:41

So

27:41

it turns out there are lots of different reasons

27:43

why people like and dislike different

27:45

foods. It could be your genes, the bacteria living in

27:47

your mouth, how much you've seen a certain food, and

27:53

how many times you've tried it before. You don't

27:55

want to be a human.

27:59

You don't have to like every food, and

28:02

your taste will change over time. As

28:04

long as you're eating a variety of foods, your

28:06

body will get what it needs in order to grow

28:09

and do all the awesome things you want to do.

28:12

That's it for this episode of Brains On.

28:15

This episode was produced by Molly

28:17

Bloom, Shayla Farzon, Aaron

28:20

Woldislausi, Anna Wegle,

28:23

Niko Gonzalez-Wistler, Molly

28:25

Quinlan, Ruby Guthrie, and Mark

28:27

Sanchez. Sandin Totten edited

28:29

this episode,

28:29

and it was sound designed by Rachel Breeze.

28:32

We had engineering help from Lucien Lozon and Derek

28:34

Ramirez. Beth Perlman is our executive

28:36

producer. The executives in charge of APM

28:38

Studios are Chandra Kavati, Alex Shaffer, and

28:40

Joanne Griffith. Special thanks to Dana Small,

28:43

Ruth Sparrow, Bill Walker, Josh and Sawyer

28:45

Galiano, Sarav and Poona Mundra,

28:47

and Andy Doucette. Brains On is a non-profit,

28:50

public radio program. There

28:52

are lots of ways to support the show. Head to brainson.org.

28:56

While you're there, you can send us mystery sounds,

28:59

questions, and

28:59

high fives. And you can subscribe

29:02

to our Smarty Pass, your ticket

29:04

to ad-free episodes and super awesome

29:06

bonus content.

29:09

All right, Nishika, are you

29:11

ready to listen to the mystery sound again?

29:13

Yep. Wonderful, here

29:16

it is. Okay,

29:19

so last time you thought someone cutting a carrot very

29:23

slowly, what

29:27

are your new thoughts? So I'm thinking

29:29

maybe someone biting

29:32

into a carrot slowly. So

29:36

I'm thinking maybe someone biting into

29:38

a carrot slowly. Okay,

29:41

so last time you thought someone cutting

29:43

a carrot very slowly, what

29:46

are your new thoughts? So I'm thinking

29:48

maybe someone biting into a carrot

29:50

slowly. Someone who's just really savoring

29:53

their food. Yeah, like really enjoying.

29:57

Yes, this carrot is so good, I have to eat it

29:59

slowly.

29:59

as possible. Are

30:02

you ready for the answer? Yeah. All

30:04

right. Hi, my name is

30:06

Marilyn and that was the sound of my mom

30:08

peeling a sumo orange. Orange. It's

30:13

a tricky one. Specifically, it's a sumo

30:16

orange, but it sounds very similar to peeling a regular

30:18

orange. Yeah, I actually really

30:20

love the sound peeling oranges make. And

30:23

it's like so loud, actually. I feel like most

30:25

of us don't pay attention to it, but it actually

30:27

makes a lot of noise. Yeah,

30:30

like now that you think about it, that was like

30:32

a lot of noise for an orange. Uh-huh.

30:35

I also like that you can peel it and it kind of gives you like a

30:37

spritz of like orange

30:39

juice in your face. It's sort of like

30:41

a nice little refreshing multisensory

30:43

experience there.

30:59

Now it's time for the brains honor a roll. These

31:02

are the incredible kids who keep the show going with their questions,

31:04

ideas, mystery sounds, drawings, and high fives.

31:07

Anna from Calgary, Elise from Eugene, Oregon, Lucy,

31:10

Wyatt, and Paul from Moorhead, Minnesota, Daniel and

31:12

Sophie from Melbourne, Australia, Jacaranda

31:14

from St. Louis, Louis and Lucas from Marquette,

31:16

Michigan, Andrew and Adeline from Georgetown,

31:18

Texas, Landon Brody in Dallas from Langley, British

31:20

Columbia, Asa from Powdersville, South Carolina,

31:23

Annabelle from Hepps, Georgia, Greta from

31:25

Wilton, Connecticut, Greta from Madison, Wisconsin,

31:28

Jocelyn from Bowie, Maryland, Amir from Ellicott

31:30

City, Maryland, Adi from Sammamish, Washington,

31:32

Vida from Los Angeles, Wesley from Phoenixville,

31:35

Pennsylvania, Gavin from Hamilton, New

31:37

Zealand, Asher from Austin, Texas, Brinley from

31:39

Nebo, North Carolina, Everett from Queen

31:41

Creek, Arizona, Zayli from Birmingham, Alabama,

31:44

Eric from Kansas City, Harper from Atlanta,

31:46

Elle and Ess from California, Abigail from Roseville,

31:48

California, Sienna and Azure from Sonoma,

31:50

California, Sophia from Honolulu,

31:53

Shiloh from Israel, William from Houston,

31:55

Yousif from Montreal, Adkins from Mars

31:57

Hill, North Carolina, Fia from Truin, Scotland, and the New

31:59

York

31:59

Times.

31:59

Hal from Amesbury, Massachusetts, Maggie

32:02

from Vancouver, Jasper from Austin, Texas, Elliot

32:04

in Winnie from Portland, Oregon, Levon from

32:06

Kernersville, North Carolina, Jack from Winnipeg,

32:08

Ferris and Naille from New York City, Ocean

32:11

from Kula, Hawaii, Benjamin from Austin, Texas,

32:13

Zach Zane and Xander from St. Augustine, Florida,

32:16

Jackson from Oakland, California, Emma from Ipswich,

32:18

Massachusetts, Henry from Dundas, Ontario,

32:20

Ella and Xander from Lovett'sville, Virginia, Ivy

32:23

from St. Louis, Zoe Elizabeth from Harr to Austria,

32:26

Elliot from Canberra, Australia, Juniper

32:28

from American Fork, Utah, Amelie

32:30

from Seattle, Audrey and Joanna from Porter Ranch,

32:32

California, August from Coatesville, Pennsylvania,

32:35

Althea and Florence from Oxford, Mississippi, Wally

32:37

from Westminster, Massachusetts, Marin from Columbia,

32:39

South Carolina, Maisie from Denver, Ethan and Hannah

32:41

from Houston, Annie from Overland Park, Kansas, Brody

32:43

from Daphne, Alabama, Peter from Salt Lake City, Egan

32:46

from Omaha, Nora from Oak Park, Illinois, Harper

32:48

from Taunton, Massachusetts, Sphera from Castro

32:51

Valley, California, Eleanor from Toronto, Cordelia

32:53

from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, Kenton and Warren from

32:55

Kaneohe, Hawaii, Jasper and Rose from Raleigh,

32:57

North Carolina, Vera from Washington, D.C., and

32:59

Felix and

32:59

Santiago from Royal Oak, Michigan. We'll

33:08

be back next week with more answers to your

33:10

questions. Thanks for listening!

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