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Why do many people not like certain food items after eating them for long? They seem tasty first, and after eating many times, it feels like we get bored.

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    $\begingroup$ Who's we here? As Unicorn13601 says, some people eat the same food for decades without boredom, e.g. I've eaten the same brand of cereal (with whatever fruit is seasonally available) most mornings for the past few decades, because I don't want to think about food choices at that time of the morning. You might also ask why people get bored with any activity, not just food. And whether there's an evolutionary advantage to seeking a varied diet. $\endgroup$
    – jamesqf
    Commented Oct 30, 2017 at 4:01

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Humans inadvertently try to balance neophilia and neophobia - fancy names for preferring the new and fearing the new. With regards to food, most humans, and animals, take an overall stance of cautious curiosity. Curiosity as in discovering a new edible food that helps them survive and thrive, and caution as in any new food item may cause harm. Certain individuals will have less curiosity, being content with just eating a few foods, while others will seek new experiences when they can. That's part of the variety in humanity.

For example, people from the Eastern countries rarely ever get bored of certain foods, as they are a primary source of fuel, such as rice or noodles. Or like people from western countries, many of them eat bacon, eggs, and toast every morning for sixty years. They eat it repeatedly, almost everyday, yet they continue to do so without complaining of boredom.

The scientific explanation is just that the brain will get tired of the same thing. That's why do many fast foods are engineered so carefully tantalize (bliss factor) and yet not go over the point when the brain gets overloaded. This phenomenon doesn't really count as a factor of boredom, rather more like insensitive to repeated exposure. It's like when you are exposed to a strong smell (e.g. Perfume) for a longtime. The brain, neurotransmitters and olfactory receptors just ignores it and doesn't register it. It is suggested why we females keep putting more and more layers of perfume on, we just don't smell it anymore 😂.

Hope that helps <3.

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