Taste preferences are our subjective likes and dislikes of food flavors, shaped by genetics, environment, and experience.
Factors such as prenatal flavor exposure influence what we later find pleasant or unpleasant to eat.
Early taste development in infants
Your pregnancy diet can influence baby’s taste preferences and play a key role in the early taste development in infants, which begins even before birth.
Flavors in your diet reach the amniotic fluid, as shown for garlic, cumin, anise, banana and vanilla. So, your baby is exposed to various food flavors while still in the womb.
A recent medical study has shown that babies who experienced the flavors of vegetables (e.g., carrots) while in the womb ate more carrot-flavored cereal later than babies with no exposure to carrots during pregnancy—highlighting how prenatal exposure can shape taste development in infants over the long term.
Shaping baby’s future taste preferences
Eating a great variety of foods during pregnancy exposes your baby to different flavors while still in the womb, helping him/her accept new foods later on.
References:
1. Mennella JA andTrabulsi J,Ann Nutr Metab 2012; 60 (Suppl 2): 40-50;
2. CookeL and FildesA,Appetite. 2011 Dec;57(3):808-11
3.VenturaAK,Worobey J, Curr Biol. 2013; 23(9):R401-8.
