By Jaime Herndon

We all have those foods that we used to hate, but now love. For me, it’s grilled cheese (yes, I was the kid that didn’t like it) and butternut squash. There are several theories about why we start liking foods we once avoided, but the way you perceive a food changes over time, especially once you get used to it. Familiarity breeds friendliness, so to speak.

Martha Pelchat, a self-titled “food preference expert” at Monell Chemical Senses Center, explains that people prefer familiar food to new foods - but if you keep being exposed to a new food, it becomes less threatening, simply because it becomes more familiar. Our bodies also provide biological reasons for food preferences. Kids love sugar (and Aunties know this well!) because it provides energy, and instinctively, their bodies know this. As they grow older and their bones stop growing, their sugar cravings start to fade…at least a little! As we age, our sense of smell gets weaker, changing the way we taste our food – which could also add to why we start loving foods we previously avoided.

As for me? I can’t cook enough butternut squash once fall hits, and grilled cheese has become a slight obsession.

Read more here.