I like oranges. I really like oranges. But I go through cycles of eating them. When I start, they are really sweet. By my fifth of the day they have turned quite bitter.
Sensing a pattern I have performed an experiment.
The theory is that the more vitamin C I eat, the less I want foods that contain vitamin C. So, I stopped eating oranges for a month. I had one orange and it was really sweet - which validates the inverse of my theory (the less vitamin C I eat the more I want foods that contain it).
I then started taking vitamin C tablets for a week and had an orange, and it was bitter. To make sure it wasn't just a bitter orange I asked a friend to share it with me (without explaining why I wanted to share the orange with him). He said it was very sweet and enjoyed it loads.
I have been unable to locate studies or anecdotes regarding this sort of thing.
So, my question:
Do our bodies alter our taste buds based on what we eat in order to maintain a stable balance of nutrients, vitamins, etc? (by encouraging/discouraging us to eat food x because we need/don't need the nutrients/vitamins/etc)?
I have previously noticed a similar alteration in sense of taste for spinach for a little while. I assume I needed the iron?
From an evolutionary point of view this makes sense - as a way of encouraging us to eat what we need to stay healthy.