Breastfeeding and women's interest in specific food tastes

Highlights

• Women were surveyed at 6-week postpartum checkup for interest in eating various foods.

• Women were most interested in eating sweet foods and least interested in sour foods.

• Breastfeeding women reported greater interest in eating foods of all taste qualities.

• Hunger was not correlated with breastfeeding women's interest in eating foods.

• Interest in eating specific foods differed between English and Spanish respondants.

Abstract

To determine whether breastfeeding alters women's interest in eating foods of different taste categories, we surveyed women at their 6-week post-partum check-up, asking them to rate their interest in eating various foods. Regardless of whether women responded in English or Spanish, they indicated greatest interest in eating sweet-tasting foods and least interest in eating sour-tasting foods, independent of whether they were breastfeeding. In general, the interest in eating foods of all taste qualities foods was increased in women who were breastfeeding; however, interest in eating salty and sour foods was not altered by breastfeeding in Spanish respondants. It is noteworthy that interest in eating foods of specific taste categories correlated with ratings of hunger in women who were not breastfeeding, but not in women who were breastfeeding. Thus, although breastfeeding women had a greater interest in eating foods of all taste categories, their interest does not appear to be driven solely by hunger. Finally, independent of breastfeeding, the interest in eating specific foods within taste categories differed between English and Spanish respondants, with Spanish respondants reporting greater interest in eating both nuts and bananas compared to English respondants. Together, these findings represent an initial approach to assess the impact of breastfeeding on interest in eating different types of food, and of how reproductive status and cultural differences may interact to affect food preferences and thereby to alter food choices.

Introduction

It is axiomatic that people select foods to eat based on how much they like the food—i.e., their preference for the food. Food preferences, in turn, are primarily a function of the taste of the food, which involves the perception of the taste (see [1] for review). Taste perceptions can vary from person to person, as well as within an individual, especially across the lifespan. For example, children's ‘sense of taste’ is more acute than adults' [1] but, even in adults, taste perception is affected by multiple factors. One important factor centers on reproductive status/reproductive hormones, and this effect is most pronounced in women [[2], [3], [4]]. We know about food cravings during pregnancy primarily due to anecdotes from popular media, in which pregnant women often are portrayed as having cravings for unusual food combinations like pickles and ice cream. However, research studies have shown that taste preferences and food intake do change during pregnancy [2,[5], [6], [7]]. In 1998, Duffy & colleagues [8] showed differences in perceptions of the intensity of salt and bitter tastes during pregnancy and proposed that those changes may result in pregnant women consuming more salty- and fewer bitter-tasting foods. The former, in particular, may be beneficial in regard to maintaining appropriate electrolyte concentrations in the face of expanded body fluid volume which occurs with pregnancy [[9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]].

In contrast, breastfeeding is associated with electrolyte loss, as well as with increased metabolic demands. Thus, food choices during lactation also may reflect physiological challenges [[16], [17], [18]]. To our knowledge, however, studies of taste perception or taste preferences in breastfeeding women have not been conducted. In fact, in a recent search of the research literature using keywords including lactation, taste preferences, salt intake, salt taste, and salt preference, approximately half of the first 100 references were about dairy cows, and most of the rest were studies conducted in laboratory animals (e.g., [[19], [20], [21]]). The search results included a few studies about lactation and salt intake in humans, but those focused primarily on the adverse consequences of salt intake by the mother on the offspring as adults (e.g., [22]). While this has the potential to be an important health issue, omitting or ignoring maternal taste preferences means that information is being lost that could increase our understanding of how food preferences and food choices may change during lactation. Increased understanding of how food choices are made by mothers may, in turn, provide insights into food choices by the family, with the attendant implications for the development and maintenance of food preferences and food choices by offspring [[23], [24], [25], [26]].

To begin to address this gap in our understanding, we conducted a survey of breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding mothers at their 6-wk postpartum check-up at two clinics in Tulsa, OK. Our goal in this initial survey was to determine whether breastfeeding altered women's interest in eating foods of specific taste categories. To do so, we simply asked them to rate how interested they were in eating a variety of foods that were selected to represent classic tastes (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, umami), as well as hot tastes. Women also were asked what taste quality(s) affected their interests in eating any of the foods they identified. Importantly, the patient populations in the two clinics differed (see Demographics and procedures, below), which allowed us to assess the role of cultural/ethnic influences on interests in eating the foods.