Sad May Dull Taste Buds Seasonal Affective Disorder Could Prompt Intense-Flavor Choices

If nothing seems to satisfy your taste lately, maybe you have seasonal affective disorder - the wintertime depression that affects an estimated 15 million Americans.

In addition to feeling depressed and moody, people with SAD may have trouble detecting sweet, sour and bitter flavors, according to an article in the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter.

The newsletter says a study by the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that people with SAD were less able than others to tell when sweet, sour or bitter flavors had been added to water and were less able to tell those flavors apart. Only their taste for salt was unchanged.

When people have trouble getting all the taste they expect from food, it may cause them to eat more of certain foods, head researcher Paul Arbisi said. “Those with SAD might choose foods that are most intense in taste, especially combinations of fats and simple sugars,” he said.

Now you know why you’ve been craving a slice of double-crust apple pie with two scoops of vanilla ice cream.