Taste aversions are actually a type of psychological condition. It is quite common in children, but can occur in humans and even animals. A taste aversion is a learned behavior; how you respond to those with a taste aversion is a major factor to the development of such a condition. It is important to determine the cause of the problem and if it was due to the food or to an incident that simply occurred at the same time.
Association
A taste aversion occurs when someone makes an association with a food. This aversion is a bad association, as something bad or uncomfortable occurred when you ate the food. For instance, you may have become violently ill to your stomach after eating a certain food. It might not have been the food that caused you to become ill; you might have just had the beginnings of stomach flu. However, for the rest of your life you will associate being sick with eating this specific food and try to avoid eating it in the future.
Survival
Taste aversion may be a type of survival skill, as humans do not want to eat things that will make them ill. The brain will remember this food for years and will immediately know the tastes and smells associated with that specific food. You may realize that this food aversion is irrational, but the survival skill can be so strong that you cannot even see the food without having a reaction.
Evolution
Taste aversions have occurred throughout time and are abundant in the plant and animal kingdom as evolutionary behaviors. For example, poisonous frogs are brightly colored. When an animal eats the frog it will become very ill or even die. If it does not die, the animal will avoid eating anything that is the color of the frog; the frog does not have to worry about being eaten by that specific animal anymore. These aversions are psychological connections to hormones, neurotransmitters and neurotoxins.
Treatment
Treatment for children and humans is based on behavioral therapy. It is important to replace the bad associations with good associations so you no longer actively avoid the food. Depending on the severity of the taste aversion it can be very difficult to overcome, but psychoanalysis and possibly even hypnosis can treat the taste aversion.
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