4 ms·

It's just a preference thing. They taste bad _to you_, not to everyone. Even among people that like artificial sweeteners, people have preferences. I prefer pi

It's just a preference thing. They taste bad _to you_, not to everyone. Even among people that like artificial sweeteners, people have preferences. I prefer pink and my wife prefers yellow. When I'm forced to use yellow, I just can't enjoy the drink as much. And, yes, it's a totally different kind of "sweet" for each of them. So if you're expecting "sugar sweet", it won't be that for the others.

mmastrac 6mo ago
I don't think you understand. That's like saying mud is a preference over sugar. It's not sweet to me. It's not even in the same ballpark. I'd have to completely re-orient my taste buds because it literally tastes like dirt or dust without a hint of the same flavour.
- RHSeeger 6mo ago
  Fair enough. It's certainly not like that for most people though; which falls back to the _to you_ issue. Maybe, as you questioned, there is a genetic component. Or just "something different about you" (not necessarily genetic).
  - kakacik 6mo ago
    No, this is pretty common in folks who don't drown their taste buds and systems in tons of it every day. Then you feel it anytime its there, since its pretty rare and its disgusting chemical bleh, one feels it fully. Its a bit like smoking cigarettes - to many non-smokers, its disgusting beyond description, smearing face with old feces wouldn't be worse. To many smokers its mild, pleasant, they enjoy it with lunch etc.
    - wasabi991011 6mo ago
      I almost never drink artificial sweetened drinks. But when I do, I barely notice a difference, and it doesn't really bother me. Why is it so hard to believe that people's taste perception vary?
- tsimionescu 6mo ago
  You're conflating two different things. Unless you have some very weird genetic condition, it does taste sweet to you. That is, it activates the same sweet receptors on your tongue and in other parts of your mouth that sugar activates - and more or less to the same extent (relative to concentration). However, sugar isn't simply a sweet taste. It also has some amount of flavor, and so do the artificial sweeteners, and it is these flavor differences that you (and many others) dislike. Flavor is something that happens in the air tract, and is far more complex than taste.
  - mmastrac 6mo ago
    It absolutely does not. The places on my tongue that taste sweet and the places that taste aspartame are completely different (the latter strongly at back of my throat, sugar strongly on my tongue).
    - inexcf 6mo ago
      It's a long standing myth that there are different taste regions on the tongue.
ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
> It's just a preference thing. They taste bad _to you_, not to everyone. That's great, but it still means I can't have soft drinks any more.
- throw4847285 6mo ago
  If you keep drinking them, you'll likely acquire a taste. I didn't used to like any artificial sugar flavors, but now I've grown accustomed to them.
  - ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
    It's not "I don't like the taste". It is "these taste like they're contaminated with antifreeze". They taste like they've been intentionally adulterated with the stuff they use to stop people drinking poisonous things.
    - mmastrac 6mo ago
      That's exactly my experience. What's interesting is that the taste is also very similar to the taste/sensation I get when I have a viral infection.
      - deleted 6mo ago
        [deleted]
      - ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
        You know what, it's exactly what everything tasted like the week that I discovered that grown-ups could catch hand, foot and mouth from their children and also what my toddler was so upset about.
    - throw4847285 6mo ago
      You're underestimating how gross it was to me at first.
mocamoca 6mo ago
Cilantro really tastes different from one person to another (relative to the aldéhyde content of cilantro and genetic variations). I don't know about sugar and aspartame but saying that it is purely a "preference" looks a little bit presomptuous to me. To the previous poster: do other intense sweeteners (stevia, saccharin, sucralose) taste sweet to you?
- mmastrac 6mo ago
  None of them do with the exception of Stevia, which sort-of kind-of tastes a bit like rum, if I could describe it.
  - Groxx 6mo ago
    That kinda fits, yeah - I hadn't thought of that description before. But like bad, nasty rum.
- JoBrad 6mo ago
  They all have variations of a bitter aftertaste to me. It’s not sweet or pleasant at all. And it’s a different form of bitterness than the one you get from kale/collared greens, brussel sprouts, etc., whichi quite enjoy. I _almost_ want to drink a diet drink along with one of the “bitter” vegetable or even a crème brûlée to quantify the difference.

mmastrac 6mo ago

I don't think you understand. That's like saying mud is a preference over sugar. It's not sweet to me. It's not even in the same ballpark. I'd have to completely re-orient my taste buds because it literally tastes like dirt or dust without a hint of the same flavour.

RHSeeger 6mo ago
Fair enough. It's certainly not like that for most people though; which falls back to the _to you_ issue. Maybe, as you questioned, there is a genetic component. Or just "something different about you" (not necessarily genetic).
- kakacik 6mo ago
  No, this is pretty common in folks who don't drown their taste buds and systems in tons of it every day. Then you feel it anytime its there, since its pretty rare and its disgusting chemical bleh, one feels it fully. Its a bit like smoking cigarettes - to many non-smokers, its disgusting beyond description, smearing face with old feces wouldn't be worse. To many smokers its mild, pleasant, they enjoy it with lunch etc.
  - wasabi991011 6mo ago
    I almost never drink artificial sweetened drinks. But when I do, I barely notice a difference, and it doesn't really bother me. Why is it so hard to believe that people's taste perception vary?
tsimionescu 6mo ago
You're conflating two different things. Unless you have some very weird genetic condition, it does taste sweet to you. That is, it activates the same sweet receptors on your tongue and in other parts of your mouth that sugar activates - and more or less to the same extent (relative to concentration). However, sugar isn't simply a sweet taste. It also has some amount of flavor, and so do the artificial sweeteners, and it is these flavor differences that you (and many others) dislike. Flavor is something that happens in the air tract, and is far more complex than taste.
- mmastrac 6mo ago
  It absolutely does not. The places on my tongue that taste sweet and the places that taste aspartame are completely different (the latter strongly at back of my throat, sugar strongly on my tongue).
  - inexcf 6mo ago
    It's a long standing myth that there are different taste regions on the tongue.

ErroneousBosh 6mo ago

> It's just a preference thing. They taste bad _to you_, not to everyone. That's great, but it still means I can't have soft drinks any more.

throw4847285 6mo ago
If you keep drinking them, you'll likely acquire a taste. I didn't used to like any artificial sugar flavors, but now I've grown accustomed to them.
- ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
  It's not "I don't like the taste". It is "these taste like they're contaminated with antifreeze". They taste like they've been intentionally adulterated with the stuff they use to stop people drinking poisonous things.
  - mmastrac 6mo ago
    That's exactly my experience. What's interesting is that the taste is also very similar to the taste/sensation I get when I have a viral infection.
    - deleted 6mo ago
      [deleted]
    - ErroneousBosh 6mo ago
      You know what, it's exactly what everything tasted like the week that I discovered that grown-ups could catch hand, foot and mouth from their children and also what my toddler was so upset about.
  - throw4847285 6mo ago
    You're underestimating how gross it was to me at first.

mocamoca 6mo ago

Cilantro really tastes different from one person to another (relative to the aldéhyde content of cilantro and genetic variations). I don't know about sugar and aspartame but saying that it is purely a "preference" looks a little bit presomptuous to me. To the previous poster: do other intense sweeteners (stevia, saccharin, sucralose) taste sweet to you?

mmastrac 6mo ago
None of them do with the exception of Stevia, which sort-of kind-of tastes a bit like rum, if I could describe it.
- Groxx 6mo ago
  That kinda fits, yeah - I hadn't thought of that description before. But like bad, nasty rum.
JoBrad 6mo ago
They all have variations of a bitter aftertaste to me. It’s not sweet or pleasant at all. And it’s a different form of bitterness than the one you get from kale/collared greens, brussel sprouts, etc., whichi quite enjoy. I _almost_ want to drink a diet drink along with one of the “bitter” vegetable or even a crème brûlée to quantify the difference.