Sudden dislikes of certain foods, often called food aversions, can be quite common but irritating. They have different reasons – some serious and others very benign. But what happens when you start disliking some of the most common foods, such as bread?
If you suddenly discover that bread doesn’t taste good to you, you might be concerned. You might worry it’s a sign of some serious disease or condition. But is that always the case?
What exactly can make bread taste bad to you all of a sudden?
- Bread can start tasting bad for you for various reasons. Some of them might include infection or disease but also something much simpler, such as mold, pregnancy, or micronutrient deficiency.
- So, before you start panicking that something’s wrong with you, take a look at the type of bread you’ve been eating recently to see if there’s anything visibly wrong with it.
- If everything seems normal, you may want to consider talking to your doctor to eliminate the possibility of any serious health conditions.
Fortunately, most reasons why bread has suddenly started tasting off to you are very simple. So, here are eight of them.
8 Reasons Why Bread Might Taste Bad to You All of a Sudden
1. Infection
Most common infections can change the way you taste foods and beverages, and this includes bread.
For example, the symptoms of the common cold include a runny or stuffy nose, headache, fever, sore throat, and nausea. All of these symptoms affect your taste buds and how you perceive the taste of the foods you eat.
Because of that, even the taste of bread might be different from what it used to be.
In the same way, infections like flu, pneumonia, and stomach flu also impact how bread and other foods taste. What’s more, you might experience that your taste isn’t fully back to normal even after a couple of weeks. So, be patient.
Another infection that impacts your taste is COVID-19.
Many people report the loss of taste and smell as one of the symptoms of this virus. In addition, some of them claim that their sense of taste hasn’t come back after feeling better; in some cases, it takes some time (even months), but some people might not get it back.
So, keep that in mind when assessing whether the difference in how you taste bread is the result of an infection.
2. Mold
In most cases, mold is visible on all foods, including bread. But that’s not always the case. Mold also affects the taste of foods, so this might definitely be the culprit behind your bread tasting off all of a sudden.
Mold can develop on bread if it’s stored improperly or when it’s expired. Because of that, it’s important to be aware of how you store your foods and how long you keep them.
The best way to avoid mold forming on your bread is to keep your broad on the counter wrapped in a plastic bag or foil. This way, the bread won’t go stale, and mold won’t form on it.
Also, look at the bread before you buy it, as mold might have formed on it even before you buy it.
3. Disease
Another reason why bread might start tasting off to you suddenly is a disease. Health issues, such as Sjögren’s syndrome, sinus infection, multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes, hypothyroidism, kidney disease, and several metabolic disorders, might affect how your taste buds work.
What’s more, if you struggle with GERD, you might also experience a change in how foods taste to you. This is because of the acid entering your mouth and affecting how your taste buds work.
Additionally, a change in taste and smell can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease.
Sometimes, medication might be able to address this issue and help return your taste buds to normal. But keep in mind that certain over-the-counter and prescription medications can also affect your sense of taste.
So, make sure to talk to your doctor about treatment options.
4. Pregnancy
You may also experience that many foods, including bread, start tasting off to you when you’re pregnant. In fact, many women experience a change in how they perceive flavors as the first sign of pregnancy, often before even taking the test.
Experts believe that this phenomenon is the result of the hormones produced during pregnancy. They tend to affect your sense of taste and even cause nausea, which also affects your taste.
Fortunately, a change in the sense of taste caused by pregnancy often goes away after giving birth. So, it’s very unlikely to be permanent.
5. Taste aversion
In some cases, you might develop an aversion to certain types of food, including bread. Even though bread is one of the easiest foods to digest, it does contain some nutrients that might cause an aversion in some people.
What’s more, doctors recommend consuming bread when you have stomach flu or food poisoning, as it helps with soaking up excess stomach acid. It also soothes your stomach and doesn’t contain spices.
So, if you consume bread only when you feel sick, your body might start associating it with feeling nauseous. This can trigger a serious aversion to bread.
Luckily, such an aversion can reverse itself after some time. So, you might be able to consume bread very soon once you feel better.
6. Medication
As mentioned above, medication can also lead to a change in taste and smell.
Medications affect your sense of taste and smell in certain ways. These include changes in saliva production, changes to the cells in your mouth, and changes to the nerve fibers responsible for the taste sensation.
Generally, almost all medications can affect your sense of taste and smell. But the ones most commonly responsible for this issue are painkillers, blood pressure medications, central nervous system stimulants, diabetes drugs, asthma drugs, and thyroid medication.
To figure out whether your medication has caused the change in how you taste bread and other foods, think about if you’ve started any new medication. Then, talk to your doctor about any alternatives.
In most cases, you might be able to find a medication that doesn’t affect how you taste food.
7. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies
As you may know, all vitamins and minerals are responsible for good health and well-being. In fact, some of them are responsible for your taste of sense and smell.
All B vitamins are important for how effectively your senses work. So, if you’re deficient in any of these vitamins, you’re more prone to loss of taste.
Another micronutrient that is important for your sense of taste is zinc. So, make sure to eat enough zinc-rich foods, such as oysters, red meat, poultry, beans, nuts, whole grains, breakfast cereals, and dairy products.
In addition, make sure to follow a varied diet full of fresh foods containing other micronutrients to stay healthy.
8. Different types of bread
Sometimes you might experience a difference in flavors when you purchase different bread types or even bread from different stores.
Each store and brand use different ingredients, which affect the bread tastes. So, if you’ve always bought bread from one place and suddenly made a change, this might be the reason why you feel like bread doesn’t taste the same to you.
In most cases, all it takes is some time to adjust to new ingredients and flavors in the bread. But if you don’t seem to enjoy the new type of bread or if you feel like something’s off with it, try choosing a different kind or get back to the old one.
You can also try toasting your bread, which alters its taste a little.
Can bread get back to tasting good to me again?
If your abrupt dislike of bread is a result of an infection, treating it should help your taste buds get back to normal. In some cases, you may need some over-the-counter medication to alleviate the symptoms or, if your infection is more severe, antibiotics.
Similarly, if your dislike of bread started when you were pregnant, you should be able to enjoy the taste of bread again after you give birth. Also, once you correct certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies, your taste buds should function properly again.
On the other hand, if your aversion to bread started after some more serious issues, such as nerve damage or permanent loss of taste and smell, it might be much harder to deal with the aftermath.
In these cases, you might want to talk to your doctor about treatment options or any other things you can do to enjoy bread again.
Conclusion
As with any food or beverage, a sudden dislike of bread is actually quite common and can have many causes. In most cases, though, a sudden aversion to bread has a simple explanation, which means it can pass on its own.
Still, it’s always important to check with your doctor if you’re worried about your health and if you experience any other symptoms.
Sources: National Library of Medicine, PMC, Research Gate, and BMJ