What’s up guys?

I talked about the fear of trying new food in my previous blog post, you remember. Did you know that there is also the opposite; desire to try new food! ☺ Let’s look at these opposite poles in this blog post ☺

Neophilia is defined as people’s constant search for novelty in food. Some authors express neophilia as people’s willingness to try new foods, while others express neophilia as people’s search for new, different and strange foods. In short, it can be said that people with food neophilia behavior are more open to new developments and changes in food.

The opposite of the fear of trying new foods, neophilia refers to the desire to try new foods that people do not know, do not recognize, have not tried and do not think will harm their health. Unlike neophobia, people with neophilia want to try new and different foods more and are more willing to try again.

It is a psychological trait that people seek change. Unchanging environments and objects create boredom and uncomfortable feelings in people. For this reason, the desire for change and curiosity are the basis of people’s search for novelty. It is stated that the interest in trying new foods is the motivation factors such as discovering new and different lifestyles, and it strengthens the gastronomic travel intentions of neophilic people in particular. Therefore, it can be concluded that the development of culinary cultures and the globalization of local cuisines depend on the neophilic tendency.

Food Choice and Fear of Trying New Foods

Humans are omnivores and can eat and digest a wide variety of foods. This advantage allows the human race to easily adapt to a new environment. Being omnivorous sometimes poses a risk. Because humans can consume poisonous plants or animals. Therefore, humans, like other mammalian omnivores, have a mixed reaction of interest and fear to new foods. It is assumed that this event occurred due to the omnivore dilemma. In search of food, a person may need to approach new foods. However, he has to protect himself from potentially poisonous food and thus restrict his diet.

Food selection includes the selection and consumption of foods and beverages, how, when, where, and with whom people eat, and considering other aspects of food and eating behavior. Food choices play an important role in symbolic, economic and social aspects of life, expressing preferences, identities and cultural meanings. Food choices are important because they create consumer demand for suppliers in the food industry who produce, process and distribute food. Among the factors that modulate consumers’ relationship with food, refusal to try new or unknown foods plays a critical role in the development of possible eating disorders.

From an adaptive point of view, the fear of trying new foods has the advantage of keeping an organism (animal or human) from eating potentially dangerous foods, while at the same time it has the disadvantage that it risks avoiding even highly nutritious foods.

Fear of trying new foods is an important determinant of food choices that has a major impact on nutritional quality, but has been associated with poor dietary diversity and inadequate nutrient intake. Evolutionarily, the fear of trying new foods can be a selective advantage by providing protection from harmful foods, as well as a disadvantage by narrowing the food range of omnivores, including humans. For example, the fear of trying new foods leads to the tendency to consume the same foods over and over again, while it leads to deprivation of other foods. Therefore, neophobic individuals may lose the potential health benefits of new foods because they have poor nutritional quality. Some studies have revealed that the consumption of vegetables, salads, fruits, meat and fish decreases in neophobic individuals. In addition, it has been stated that individuals with fear of trying new foods may experience deficiencies in protein, monounsaturated fats, magnesium and vitamin E intake.

Are you one of those who have a desire to try new foods or those who are afraid of trying new foods? I guess sometimes I’m in the first group, sometimes I’m in the second group ☺ 

Depending on the moment and the food ☺

See you in the next post guys!