First off, I think the term 'supertaster' is a bit misleading. It appears to imply that supertasters are way more awesome at tasting than other, regular folks. Like superman is to...man. A term I heard once, and which I think is a bit more telling, is 'overtaster'.
Scientists tell us there are 3 types of tasters; non-tasters, medium tasters, and supertasters. And, there are ways to figure out which you are. In our case, we asked the pediatrician.
Supertasters have more of those fleshy little bumps (papillae)on their tongues than most folks. But, what really sets them apart is that they are very sensitive to a compound known as 6-n-propylthiouracil. Say what? It means bitter is REALLY bitter. In some cases it isn't just that bitter is superbitter because some supertasters having hightened senstitivty to other flavors as well.
When my son was an infant he was just fine with all sorts of foods, but as he started toddling his tastes for food began to change. A LOT. We figured we had a run of the mill picky eater toddler. But, when he became a preschooler, worry set in. Was his diet okay? Was he getting all the vitamins and minerals he needed? Was he eating enough? He was, at this point, eating peanut butter sandwiches, french fries, chicken nuggets, bacon, cheerios, and diced pears in syrup ONLY. No vegetables would pass his lips. Dinner time was a battle, but we had read 'don't make dinner time a battle'. So, we tried games, we tried bribes, we tried crazy stunts. We thought seriously about feeding tubes. Okay, not really, but you get the point. This is when we took him to the doctor. We were reassured that he would be fine and healthy, he was just a supertaster, so getting him to eat diversely was going to be a challenge.
Years have gone by and now we have a 9-nearly-10-year old supertaster. He doesn't eat ketchup or pasta sauce, he lives off carbs, but he now will eat two vegetables (green beans and peas) and a slightly wider array of fruit. Peanut butter sandwhiches now also contain jelly and he'll even eat a cheeseburger (meat, cheese, bun). He is going into 4th grade and we've decided to see if we can get creative and expand his food horizons, even a little bit.
There are two main plans for reaching this goal; old foods new ways and new flavors in old foods. The first would be like making mini corndog muffins instead of a corn dog. The latter would be like adding banana slices to a pb&j.
My son is in on this. We aren't surprising him - supertasters DO NOT like surprises when it comes to their food. We will make small changes and space them out. We will avoid known verboten foods. He will try new foods with little to no complaint. He can help with ideas and food prep. And we will listen to his input. These are all things we have tried off and on before, but this time I am hoping for a concerted push.
I believe there is a wonderland of flavor out there (and a world of healthier eating) for him once he begins appreciating the flavors more. But, in the world of the supertaster, once bitten indefinately shy. He has tried too many foods that were overly umpleasant to fully trust anything other than his trusted cadre of known and beloved (and often bland) food. So, we'll see where this new adventure takes us!
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