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What's "wrong with people" is they don't like eating poison. You can train yourself to like anything, but the bitter alkaloids that give brussel sprouts and suc

What's "wrong with people" is they don't like eating poison. You can train yourself to like anything, but the bitter alkaloids that give brussel sprouts and such their nasty bitter taste are indeed a toxin. There isn't enough to be dangerous in modern varieties, but there was in their wild ancestors.

luckman212 3y ago
There's a saying, The bitter the better Many bitter foods are highly nutritious. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bitter-foods https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bitter-foods
- naniwaduni 3y ago
  Bitterness is quite literally the "this is poison, stop eating" taste category that incidentally happens to have a lot of false positives because for the most part it's cheaper to reject some good food than to accept eating some poison. An ironic thing to say in a thread about peppers, but still.
  - bmacho 3y ago
    And much much more false negatives, which raises the question if the "stop eating this, this is bitter and bitter means poisonous" has any truth in it.
    - PawgerZ 3y ago
      If bitter = poisonous, then the plants that evolve to be more bitter will be eaten less. Thus, non-poisonous foods that evolve to be more bitter have a genetic advantage over their less bitter counterparts.
      - hollerith 3y ago
        That would be true if there were a fitness advantage for the plant when a herbivore dies, but in actually the fitness advantage comes from discouraging the herbivore from eating the plant.
ahartmetz 3y ago
They are much less bitter if the plants had been exposed to frost before harvesting. My parents used to have them in the garden. Brussels sprouts in winter were nice.
magicalhippo 3y ago
Never had to train myself, always just liked them, and they don't taste particularly bitter. So I had a hunch it was like cilantro, and seems there's indeed a genetic reason[1]. So fair enough, if they taste bitter I'll accept it's not a nice side dish. [1]: https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/ https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/

luckman212 3y ago

There's a saying, The bitter the better Many bitter foods are highly nutritious. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bitter-foods https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/bitter-foods

naniwaduni 3y ago
Bitterness is quite literally the "this is poison, stop eating" taste category that incidentally happens to have a lot of false positives because for the most part it's cheaper to reject some good food than to accept eating some poison. An ironic thing to say in a thread about peppers, but still.
- bmacho 3y ago
  And much much more false negatives, which raises the question if the "stop eating this, this is bitter and bitter means poisonous" has any truth in it.
  - PawgerZ 3y ago
    If bitter = poisonous, then the plants that evolve to be more bitter will be eaten less. Thus, non-poisonous foods that evolve to be more bitter have a genetic advantage over their less bitter counterparts.
    - hollerith 3y ago
      That would be true if there were a fitness advantage for the plant when a herbivore dies, but in actually the fitness advantage comes from discouraging the herbivore from eating the plant.

ahartmetz 3y ago

They are much less bitter if the plants had been exposed to frost before harvesting. My parents used to have them in the garden. Brussels sprouts in winter were nice.

magicalhippo 3y ago

Never had to train myself, always just liked them, and they don't taste particularly bitter. So I had a hunch it was like cilantro, and seems there's indeed a genetic reason[1]. So fair enough, if they taste bitter I'll accept it's not a nice side dish. [1]: https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/ https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/12/04/brusselssprouts/