The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor is from 2016.

I can't put it down. It explains so much. At the time I probably thought it was one of those about "taste scientists." And it is, but it's also muchmuch more.

It's close to a General Theory of Pyramids, or how we got here with our food. It wasn't just that artificial food crowded out the real. It was how, before then, our actual food was watered down. Nutritionally, and in actuality.

There's a whole chapter on how our chicken now tastes like dirt. And our produce has been watered down and lost half or more of its nutrients. And "flavors" injected into raw meat.

It simply makes me realize why all the fast food and restaurant fare are so elaborate and overspiced. And why this overlap is far greater than we think, especially at chains who have to be consistent, no matter who is throwing it into the microwave.

Essentially, they reconstitute things and heat them up and claim it's fresh-baked and made on premises. Which it is, but still misleading.

I've long refused to eat seedless watermelon because it has no flavor. Now, I suspect the better-tasting melon I've been finding has been enhanced. With natural flavor.

Because it's still not right. I will have to build a little straw green house and heirloom seeds and a deer fence to get what I want.

And "Mark also highlights a range of experiments that suggest we tend to eat more when the nutrients and energy our food provides don’t align with their taste and texture. Our bodies sense something awry in our food environment and eat just a little more to account for the unknown risk. There is still much to learn in this area. In the meantime, the safest approach is to ensure the food you eat tastes terrific simply because it contains the nutrients your body needs."

Case in point: Sweeteners. LC Cheesecake, Atkins Shakes and bars, whatever.
Sweet taste should mean the vitamins, minerals and fructose/energy in fruit, not a chemical lacking nutrients.


Good podcast interview with Marty Kendall about both his books.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/the...ker/#more-25916

And Navigating Away from Ultra-Processed Foods towards Nutritional Optimisation.
https://optimisingnutrition.com/ultra-processed-foods/

I now do a mug microwave cheesecake with fruit or bits of jam on top. The only thing wrong with it is how it must sit in the fridge overnight.

But wrestling with food all the time has honed my sense of what sustains me, and what doesn't. Everyone has to figure that out, and I'm so impressed when someone creates a map that lets us.

Why am I not surprised?



I raise chickens. The Cornish cross raised on standard feed taste like grocery store chicken. But when I raise old breeds, and the birds grow for 4-6mo ths, rather than 2, the flavor is incredibly rich.

In our meats, what they eat contributes to flavor as well.

The good news in tomatoes is mire varieties are being developed for better flavor. Better than grocery store offerings years ago but still cannot match the direct from garden flavor.

I encourage growing your own.

I have two friends who raise their own chickens for meat, and one also raises rabbits and sometimes ducks, turkeys, and pork. They both say the same thing. We won't even buy chicken in the grocery store anymore.

Did this article by Dr. Cate every get posted here?

https://drcate.com/meat-tastes-blan...cle-metabolism/

I just ate three small duck breaks for breakfast. Firm, slightly chewy. Barely cooked through to prevent toughness.

These were good. As good as when the meat was soaked in salt water prior to a quick fry.

The younger birds are more tender than a mature duck. Im still learning the best age to cull. Too young and the muscle is not well filled in. A lot of work for little return.

I prefer the duck meat with salt. No sauces. Im still trying to find the best recipe for duck la orange. A light flavoring, not overpowering. Crispy skin. Had a great restaurant experience that Ive been trying to recreate for years.

We need to learn how to cook again. And I dont mean chicken nuggets. Yuck.

Yuck indeed! Sometimes I think all some people eat are chicken nuggets... and they are no longer toddlers, either.

The "Eat Like a Dinosaur" parents (book and website) found relief from so many issues between themselves and their three boys. All by emphasizing by eating real whole foods and eliminating known allergens. The significance here is that they looked for mental issues, too.

We know only one way to connect food with mood: HANGRY! TREATS!

Which is created by marketing, on purpose. But my own mood improvement with more nutrition was just as dramatic.

We are not taught to think this way. And we should be thinking this way. I'm sure, back in the day, when one's village woke up and organized, no one was saying, "Yeah, I'm really down about the international textiles market."

It was all about what you actually did and what you actually ate.