Autism and taste buds

[wanderer03]

Does anyone else notice some days that your taste buds are oversensitive and some days undersensitive? Like sometimes my favorite beer will be absolutely delicious and then the very next day, it'll taste weird. I get this from time to time. I don't think the consistency and flavor varies much from bottle to bottle and even case to case but man, I cracked a bottle of Corona this afternoon and it tasted totally different than the one I had last night. WTF?

 

[AsheSkyler]

Very rarely, but I do interact frequently with a person who does this and it drives me up the wall whenever we eat together. Makes cooking for them rather awkward and frustrating.

 

[wanderer03]

It's not something I do, AsheSkyler. It is something that just happens. I wish it wouldn't, but it does. I chalk it up to a part of my autism.

 

[AsheSkyler]

No worries. Might be autism in your case, but my friend is neurologically normal (as far as we know). End result is the same, just serve a broad range of things and hope they get a belly full instead of going away hungry.

 

[Progster]

Occasionally. Interestingly enough, I heard a conversation about this the other day about a plate of mushrooms where each mushroom tasted a bit different - but the person saying this, as far as I know, is NT.

 

[Judge]

I was just thinking about that the other evening, when I opened a can of black olives to slice up for my pizza.

My taste of olives is so damned discriminating...ugh! That they can either be very good, or very bad!

I want to tell myself, "Get a grip! They're only olives. But my taste buds seem to always dominate the equation....

 

[DogwoodTree]

Beer is kind of wishy washy anyway...the flavor changes depending upon what you've eaten recently (even if it's not still in your mouth), how thirsty you are, what the room smells like, that kind of thing. That's why certain beers go better with certain kinds of foods and certain times of day. Same thing with wine.

 

[wanderer03]

I could not have put it better myself, Judge. Dogwood, very true

 

[Flinty]

Earlier this year I had some dental work completed. The good news is that it made my taste buds much less sensitive. No more of the burning! No more of the burning!

 

[wanderer03]

I just wish I wasn't quite so hypersensitive to foods.

 

[Sylar]

I'm glad I'm not the only one to experience this. Although for me it's almost always the under-sensitive type. Food is a huge pain for me and it either tastes of next to nothing so I get bored of it fast or it tastes horrible. I prefer spicy food because at least then there's something to experience in your mouth instead of chewy water.

 

[Beverly]

Fortunately I do not have this problem. I am a foodie and, a very good cook. My NT husband does however. One day he will find something I prepare delicious, the next day the very same thing is too salty, has too much pepper, lacks garlic, something is wrong with the flavor.

He has even had half of a sandwich taste good and the other half taste as if something is amiss when it's the same sandwich. It isn't spectrum related, but it does happen to more people than just you.

Sylar, I have a friend who also has that problem. He takes a small sip of lemon juice, or a taste of a lemon wedge before eating, and if he looses taste while eating. He claims it helps him taste food to cleanse his pallet before eating and, after eating anything wit cream or a lot of fat.