Sober Curious, Mindful & Alcohol-Free Drinkers Podcast: Low No Drinker

#78 What no one tells you about your tastes when you start drinking low/no

• Denise Hamilton-Mace • Episode 78

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A few months ago, I tasted a sip of an Old Fashioned (my former favourite cocktail) and nearly fell off my chair because it tasted SO strong. But here's the thing - the drink hadn't changed, my taste buds had!

In this episode, I get into the science behind why this happens (don't worry, no lab coat required) and how it actually numbs our taste buds, and when we drink less, those receptors wake right up. I map out the timeline from the first subtle changes to the full "taste bud makeover".

And I take a look at finding low and no alternatives that might better suit your newly sensitive palate. 

This is one of those rarely discussed benefits of mindful drinking that deserves way more attention!

 

This week, we cover:
0:00 Why we’re talking about taste
2:40 The science of tastebuds
4:46 What happens when we start drinking less
5:26 The role of smell
7:54 Timeline of taste change
11:25 The freedom to explore
13:42 What to drink when your tastes change
18:12 A better taste for life 
 

Best episode to listen to next:
#68 No.1 mistake made by new low/no drinkers
#40 What low/no drinkers are really saying

 

If you could spare me two minutes to rate and review the show on your podcasting app of choice, you'll make me the happiest little podcaster in all of Low No Nation 😊

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Speaker 1:

Hello, hello and welcome to the Low-No Drinker podcast, the only twice-weekly podcast helping you find, understand and enjoy the world of low, no and light drinks, drinkers and drinking. My name is Denise Hamilton-Mace and I am the founder, editor and host of all things Low-No Drinker. Today we're having a chat about one of those side effects that nobody talks about but I think is really huge when it comes to changing the way that you drink. And don't worry, I'm not going to do that clickbaity thing where you get this really intriguing title and it takes half an hour to find out what you're on about. We're diving straight in today, guys, because we are talking about taste buds. That's right. I have noticed since this change in the way that I drink. My taste buds have completely changed too, and I think it's absolutely fascinating.

Speaker 1:

So when I was in what I call my professional drinking days, one of my favorite cocktails was an old fashioned. I absolutely adore them, and I could sit and sip on an old fashioned all evening long and be very, very happy. Now, if you were a strong cocktail drinker, you'll know it and love it just as much as I did If perhaps you weren't. Let me tell you that an old fashioned is basically just bourbon in a glass. It is a very healthy measure of bourbon, or perhaps a rye whiskey. It's stirred gently over ice with some bitters, a little sugar, but it's a lovely drink if that's the way you like to drink, and I really enjoyed them. I did, and a little while ago now, a couple of months ago, my husband and myself were out with a couple of friends and they were all having some cocktails and one of them had an old fashioned. I thought, oh, oh gosh, I've got to have a taste of that. I used to love this drink, let me have a taste. And I took a sip of this drink and I've got to be honest with you, I nearly fell off my chair. It was so, so strong. And the truth is, the strength of the drink hasn't changed. It's always been a really, really strong drink. But what's changed is my taste buds and the way that my mouth receives that drink. So I thought today we can have a little look at how your taste buds can change when it comes to changing the way that you drink and why they make that change. Because this isn't just me. You know I'm not that special that I'm not that special that I'm one of a kind this is the only person that happens to, so it might be something that you are experiencing too, or that you have experienced or that you're going to experience if you decide to carry on with your low, no or light drinking journey to whatever end you're hoping to get to.

Speaker 1:

So we're going to jump into some of the science behind why this happens. I'm not a scientist, don't worry, it's not going to get too geeky. You don't need to put on your lab coat and your goggles for this section, just to give you some basic understanding of the biology behind why this happens, because it's really interesting. We have in our mouth approximately, depending on which website you visit anywhere from two to 10,000 taste buds. Now, I think that's quite a wide range, and I found it a bit odd that so many websites disagreed with each other, but the average general consensus seems to be that we have somewhere around about the six to 10,000 taste buds mark in our mouths, and these are all over our mouth. This is on your tongue, in your cheeks, on the roof of your mouth. As you know, if you taste something, you taste it in lots of different places depending on what it is. Now, these taste receptors, just like the rest of your body, regenerate, and your taste receptors regenerate every 10 to 14 days, so about every two weeks or so, you have brand new taste receptors in your mouth.

Speaker 1:

But what happens is, when we're drinking alcohol on a regular basis, that alcohol consumption starts to dull those taste receptors and makes them less effective, if you will. It's very similar, in fact, to how smokers have dulled taste receptors. So what happens is that alcohol acts as sort of a mild anesthetic inside our mouth. In fact, it was one of the first anesthetics that we used to use, and so regular consumption of alcohol can raise your sort of shall we call it? Your threshold for flavours and taste, meaning that you need stronger and stronger flavors to have the same taste impact within your mouth. Making sense, you with me? So far, okay, great. So as you become accustomed to stronger flavors, over time you start to drink more intense flavors, and then you start to enjoy things like old fashions or really strong margaritas or really really deep heavy tannic wines. But what happens when we start drinking less is that the numbing effect starts to dissipate, right. So, as the taste receptors rebuild, we're not having as much alcohol, we're not dulling them down as much as they were. So they become more sensitive to the way things taste. Our perceptions of all the different flavors, particularly sweetness and acidity, changes quite dramatically. So things that we used to enjoy beforehand now can seem really intense and really impactful, in some cases almost sort of aggressive.

Speaker 1:

Another point to note is that it's not just what we are tasting with our mouth that impacts what we think of a drink. Okay, so bear with me, because 80% of what we perceive as taste is actually from the smell of the thing that we are consuming, and alcohol significantly impacts our olfactory sensitivity, our noses basically. Have you ever seen that study or that experiment that people do I've seen it on telly a couple of times in which they're trying to get people to describe the taste of chocolate, and what happens is if you give somebody some chocolate whether it's a sort of a strong dark chocolate or really creamy sweet milk chocolate and you ask them to taste it, people will report the normal tastes that you expect them to say. But then they would repeat the experiment and have the person hold their nose or they put something on the nose so they couldn't smell the chocolate, and every time they did that, the people who would taste the chocolate would say it didn't taste as bitter or it didn't taste as creamy or it wasn't as sweet, and that's because they're not smelling the chocolate before they're eating it. So what we smell has a huge impact on how things taste, and alcohol impacts that olfactory sensitivity.

Speaker 1:

As I said, it impacts our noses and it impacts everything that's going on in that sort of ear, nose and throat cavity. And so what happens is when we start to reduce the way that we drink, we get all of those senses back, all of those sensations back. So all of our taste buds start to come back and become a bit more sensitive. They can pick up flavors that perhaps they would have been missed if they'd been masked by the alcohol. Our nose and our olfactory system starts to work better, so we can notice these smells and add that into the tasting experience. And the good thing is that this isn't just applicable to drinks, right? So this applies to food as well, and it's great. I don't know about you, but I love food. Love food perhaps a bit too much, but that's okay, I'll live with that. But, but you know, being able to notice greater depth of flavor in your favorite meals, being able to notice the delicate nuances of tastes in in some fresh sushi and that sort of thing is absolutely wonderful.

Speaker 1:

So choosing to reduce your alcohol intake for a prolonged period of time can have a really interesting impact on your experience of going back to taste and going back to flavors. So how long does it take for you to start noticing these differences? Now, the caveat going into this is that every body is different, so of course it might be slightly different for you, but within the first seven to 10 days of going alcohol free so say, for example, you're doing a dry January, a sober October, or I'm recording this now in April, so perhaps you're doing a sober spring, any of those sober months or challenges or whatever it is If you're taking a prolonged period of time off drinking, within the first seven to ten days you probably won't notice that much of a difference, and I know that's annoying because we demand instant gratification in everything that we do, but you're going to have to just be a little bit patient. Within two to three weeks you will notice or perhaps you know it's subtle, but you start beginning to detect subtler flavors in food and drinks. So in about two to three weeks the first changes start to be noticeable, and that makes sense. If you consider that it takes 10 to 14 days for your taste buds to regenerate, then two to three weeks is about right for you to start seeing and tasting and noticing slight differences.

Speaker 1:

In about three to four weeks you'll go through what has been deemed the revelation phase, where lots of people start to report significant taste changes so you can really start to pick up flavors. Then you're really starting to get a whiff of the smells that are coming in and you'll really be able to dive into the layers of flavor and to what you might be consuming. Then, in about one to two months, you'll start to develop new preferences and new aversions. So you'll start to recognize that there are things that you like that perhaps you didn't like before and there are things that perhaps you did like before that you no longer want to imbibe or partake of or eat in any way, shape or form, and this is a good thing and a bad thing, depending on what it is. You know, um, it's very personal and the connection that we have with the drinks and the flavors that we used to like before is often harder to break than the taste relationship that we have with it.

Speaker 1:

But as your taste buds change, what you want and what you enjoy is going to change as well, and so after that one to two months, we're into about a three month period and by the end of that three months, your taste buds have had pretty much a complete recalibration, a rejig, you know. They've zhushed themselves up and they've come out, they've had their makeover and they're feeling fabulous and they are taking it all in. So it is a long journey if you're wanting results straight away, but in the grand scheme of things you you know, three months is not a very long time for you to completely overhaul the way your drinking appreciation shifts when it comes to experiencing low, no and light drinks. Now, as I said before, everybody is different, so it might happen quicker for you. Uh, it might happen slower. It will depend on other things. So, for example, if you do still smoke, then that's going to have a huge impact on your taste buds and this timeline is going to be a lot, a lot, a lot longer and perhaps won't fully be impactful for you until you decide, perhaps, that you don't want to smoke anymore.

Speaker 1:

So it's one of those areas that I think doesn't get enough attention. Everybody talks about whether alcohol-free drinks taste the same as alcohol-full drinks. Everyone talks about wanting deep, complex flavors and wanting tannins and wanting hops and wanting this, that and the other, but actually what we want is going to change based on how we drink and how often we still imbibe full strength alcohol, and I just think it's one of those really fascinating areas that needs to have a lot more attention. I mean, I've done my research for this episode here, but I think that there's so much more that we could look into when it comes to the way that our tastes change. I know that now that I've been a sober, curious and mindful drinker for a few years now, as I've said on the show before, I've got no issue with tasting alcohol, but I can't handle the taste of it anymore. Whether I wanted to have a full strength drink throughout an evening or not, my taste buds just couldn't hack it anymore. It's not pleasant. My best friend and I love couldn't hack it anymore. It's not pleasant.

Speaker 1:

My best friend and I love day drinking. We used to love to sit in a lovely beer garden, get a couple of bottles of rosé and we sit there and rosé all day to our heart's content. I saw him this weekend and we all went for a picnic in the park with the kids and I bought a selection of alcohol-free cans with me. He bought his own drinks and one of those was a bottle of rosé wine, and so I said, oh, let me have a taste, let me see what you're drinking. And I had one sip and, honestly, it tasted awful and it was a good wine, but the alcohol taste in it was so, so strong that it was unpleasant for my palate. Now in it was so, so strong that it was unpleasant for my palate now, and that might happen to you, you know, and you might want that to happen. You might be looking forward to it, you might be saddened by it, but the good news is that there are so many low, no, and light alternatives that you can have and that I now enjoy in place of the full strength versions. And because I now enjoy in place of the full strength versions, and because I now know that that full strength version isn't actually enjoyable for me, I'm left far more free to enjoy the alcohol free versions that I want to dive into.

Speaker 1:

Speaking of which, what alternatives should you be looking for, then, if you're moving away from those strong, intense flavors of alcohol full drinks to a more palatable low note or light version. Well, it's difficult in this instance to give you specific brands because there are just so many of them and I find that taste is so personal. Obviously, you know it's one of the reasons why I don't do reviews is that taste is so personal and what I find really enjoyable you might not like, and vice versa. There are some big brands in our space that I don't actually enjoy because they just don't sit well with my palate. It's not because they're bad, they're just not a good match for me. Bad, they're just not a good match for me. So, instead of giving you some specific brands, I'm going to give you some general guidance on what you can be looking out for when it comes to making the change.

Speaker 1:

So if you are somebody who likes wine, then look for drinks that offer complexity and mouthfeel. Mouthfeel is really important. That's that body, that's that texture that you get when you sip on it. Try and find wines that have a proper tannin structure so it's not just a flat grape juice but they actually leave your mouth slightly coated in that way that a full-bodied red would do. We do struggle Everybody knows that within the alcohol-free wine space. It's not as easy to find as many drinks as we enjoy in perhaps the beer or the ciders or the spirits. But if you are struggling then perhaps you could consider looking at things like tea alternatives, fermented drinks like kombuchas and keffirs. Fermented drinks like kombuchas and keffirs. Shrubs are another really great place to find drinks with a lot of body, a lot of mouthfeel, a lot of complexity, lots of layers of flavor.

Speaker 1:

Look out for acidity. Some of them can have higher acidity levels which, depending again on how you like to drink, can feel a little bit intense. But you do need a good amount of acidity for for satisfaction and again, particularly if you want this to go with food, you need something that can stand up on its own. If you're a beer drinker, hoppy ipas might be, um, quite bitter for you now and quite unpleasant, because when you are drinking full-bodied bitter IPAs and ales, that hoppiness is quite intense, but it is again dulled by the alcohol or is matched with the alcohol, so it doesn't feel quite as impactful when you take that alcohol out. That hoppy flavor can be quite intense. So you might want to go for something that is a little bit gentler on the palate. You want to go for something that's perhaps a little bit maltier, something that's not quite so, hop forward and hop intense. The big alcohol brands do make very easy drinking beers for that reason, and I think that they are a good way to step into alcohol-free beers and then to be able to branch out from them and say, right, okay, I've tasted this alcohol-free alternative of a big brand that I already know. I kind of like this, I want to find more like that, and then you can use that as a jumping off point to finding other things that you'd like to have.

Speaker 1:

And then, if you are more of a spirits or a cocktail drinker, the biggest challenge you're going to have is that sweetness. Some of the most popular cocktails, full strength cocktails out there are laden with sugars. You know your porn star martinis and mojitos. They're just hitting you over the head with a lot of sugar. And I find now that I'm super sensitive to very sweet drinks. And I know that a lot of people out there find now that I'm super sensitive to very sweet drinks. And I know that a lot of people out there say that they don't want alcohol-free drinks that are just laden with sugar as a way to impart mouthfeel, because all you end up with is that that sort of syrupy coating around your mouth, and it's really not very pleasant.

Speaker 1:

So try looking for alcohol-free spirits that are botanical forward, that are shouting on their production about what botanicals are in their spirit, what they're using to make them. Consider more aperitif style drinks that add a layer of bitterness that helps to cut through some of that sweetness. It can be a real asset in creating balanced drinks and balanced cocktails. But whatever it is that you are going for, know that the fact that your taste buds, your tasting experience, your palate changing is a really good sign that your body is returning to a homeostasis, a state of balanced being where it is experiencing things the way that it is supposed to.

Speaker 1:

And if you do look at reducing your alcohol intake over time, then that's not to say that if you then go and have an alcohol full drink that you're going to have to go through this whole biological process again, it might actually also help you in reducing your intake if that's what you want, because I know that if I'm going out now, I wouldn't be able to drink the way that I did before, even if I wanted to, because it would just be unpleasant for me. So I kind of have a natural defense against consuming alcohol full drinks, because now, not only are they not serving me in terms of feeling crappy the next day, they're not serving me in terms of they're not enjoyable to drink in the first place. If you do still find them enjoyable to drink, then absolutely that's fine. Make sure that you are drinking lots of water and you're giving your palate a chance to refresh itself, to clear out what's in your mouth in between drinks, especially if you're doing something like zebra striping or bookending, where you're mixing your full strength and your low no drinks in there as well, because otherwise it's going to be a little bit unfair. If you have a mouthful of, you know, a full strength I don't know Jack and Coke and then you go and have an alcohol-free gin and tonic, they're not going to compare the same, it's not going to be a fair, like-for-like comparison. But it's a good thing. Like I said, it's a good thing and it's really interesting, and I think it's one of those little talked about side effects of drinking less that definitely needs to be shouted about and celebrated more, because it's not only about the drinking, it's about, like I said before you enjoying other parts of your life as well. It's about you being able to taste better flavors in your food. It's about you enjoying your herbal teas more. It's about you just embracing life a little bit more and being able to make the most of it in whatever way means the most to you.

Speaker 1:

So that's it for me from this week. I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have, please can you do me a favor, because I have noticed that lots of people who listen to this show aren't yet subscribed to it. So if you are so inclined, would love for you to uh like and subscribe the to the show wherever you're listening. Um, and don't forget to go over to the website and check out low no drinker magazine, the number one global magazine for sober, curious and mindful drinkers, full of lifestyle articles, news reviews and interviews from the people, places and brands who are leading the low no and light alcohol revolution. Okay, that's it from me. Thank you so much, my dear, and until next time. Cheers to a life less intoxicated.

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Denise Hamilton-Mace

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