Nutrition–flavor disconnect: a Twitter thread

This is a Twitter thread copied from Justin Mares.

The thread

Italians aren't counting calories at all. They eat pasta, cheese, gelato and stay thin. When Americans eat similarly, they get morbidly obese and sick. What on Earth is going on? The flavor-nutrition disconnect, explained—

Imho, the "flavor-nutrition disconnect" is the most profound nutrition discovery of our time. For millennia, flavor signaled nutrition. A sweet berry meant energy (sugar!), a bitter leaf meant medicine. Today, these ancient connections are broken.

If we look at Northern Italy's obesity rate, it hovers around 8% (America's is 42%). These Italians are feasting on cheese, risotto, and gelato. Then why are American’s so obese? I suspect part of the issue arises from the 1940s.

In the 1940s, America enriched flour with B vitamins to fight pellagra. It worked brilliantly as deficiencies vanished overnight. But it severed the ancient link between taste and nutrition that had guided humans for millennia.

Pellagra is a systemic, deadly disease caused by a severe deficiency of niacin (vitamin B3). America decided to enrich flour with niacin. There were no bad intentions. But unfortunately, we suffer the consequences today. Let me explain how—

We're wired to crave flavors linked to nutrients. In nature, flavor signals nutrition. Sweetness = calories. But artificial flavors and fortification can deceive us into wanting foods that seem nutritious but aren't. Italians took a different approach.

Italians focused on whole foods, encouraging people to raise rabbits for meat, use communal ovens for bread, even drink unfiltered wine (which provided niacin through yeast). Result? They "literally ate its way out" of nutritional deficiency.

Fast forward to today, The American South (saved by enrichment) is now the "Diabetes Belt," while Northern Italy enjoys remarkable health. Let's zoom in on your brain right now because this is where this "enrichment" becomes a problem—

Your brain tracks micronutrients with great precision. But enrichment broke this system. When vitamins are artificially added to processed foods, your brain never signals you to seek diverse foods. Natural consumption limits disappear.

Modern food science created "nutritive mismatch" - when what your tongue tastes doesn't match what your stomach receives. A 2017 Yale study showed that when sweet taste and calories don't align, metabolism gets fooled and hunger regulation breaks down.

The food industry weaponized taste-calorie confusion. Original Doritos bombed in the 1960s (too bland), until Frito-Lay added "Taco" flavor powder. Calories didn't change. It was pure flavor technology creating an irresistible dopamine trigger.

In studies, neuroscientist Kent Berridge found rats with elevated dopamine voraciously ate more, even when they didn't like the taste! This explains the modern food trap: high wanting, low satisfaction.

As Schatzker, who wrote in "The End of Craving" says—

"We talk about cheeseburgers and Doritos being hyper-palatable. I don't think they are... They have a hold on us, but don't deliver true pleasure."

It's a miserable cycle. We keep chasing a high we never fully reach.

The average American now gets 60% of calories from ultra-processed foods, roducts where this flavor-nutrient mismatch is greatest. Even "diet foods" backfire: artificial sweeteners trigger insulin responses without providing calories, leading to increased hunger later.

Pigs given vitamin-enriched feed exhibit the same behavior. They stopped seeking nutritious alfalfa because their cravings were "turned off" by the supplemented diet. They grew fatter faster. Sound familiar? We've become those pigs.

The pig example underscores the biological principle that once the body has all necessary micronutrients, it will comfortably store any surplus calories as fat. And added vitamins make reaching that surplus all too easy.

The counterintuitive solution? Stop fighting flavor. Schatzker notes that sailors with scurvy would experience intense cravings for fruits and vegetables. Their bodies knew exactly what they needed. Your body still has this wisdom. We've just been jamming the signals.

The way forward isn't more restrictions. We must restore connection between flavor and nutrition. You can have an incredible relationship with food, eat wonderful meals, and not pay the terrible price of being overweight and sick. It's time to end the war on food.

References

• Mares, Justin (5 April 2025). "The flavor-nutrition disconnect, explained". Twitter / X.
• Schatzker, Mark (9 November 2021). The End of Craving: Recovering the Lost Wisdom of Eating Well. Avid Reader Press / Simon & Schuster. ISBN 9781501192470.