If you’re like most Americans, the never-ending stream of ultra-processed, highly palatable foods that define our modern food supply has hijacked your taste buds.

But have no fear! Fortunately, our sense of taste is highly malleable. This means that your taste buds can be coaxed into loving the simple and less intense flavor profiles typical of Mother Nature’s disease-busting foods like vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains.

All it takes is a little knowledge and know-how. If you make a commitment to incorporate a few key practices into your daily diet, you, too, can reach the “ultimate goal” of healthy eating as a way of life. In time, I know from experience that you will truly crave and seek out super-healthy foods like kale and other dark leafy greens.

Here are a few tips:

1. Make a concerted effort to decrease your taste buds’ exposure to the most notorious foods for desensitizing and hijacking your sense of taste. These include all nontraditional fast foods, desserts and sweets like cakes, pastries, doughnuts, cookies and candy, and foods and beverages sweetened with no-calorie artificial sweeteners.
2. Be proactive in regularly exposing your palate to healthy foods, particularly nonstarchy vegetables. The more you eat a food, the better it tastes over time, even if you don’t like it at first. That is a well-documented fact.
3. When you eat healthy foods constantly, it reinforces how good they are for your body and how much better they can make you feel. Studies show this simple practice of “positive associations” makes them taste better.

Our taste buds can be retrained to enjoy healthy foods. (Getty Images)

Our taste buds can be retrained to enjoy healthy foods. (Getty Images)

Dr. Ann Kulze is founder and CEO of Just Wellness and has a knack for breaking down the science of healthy eating and living into simple and easily digestible messages. She has been featured on “Dr. Oz,” “Oprah and Friends,” WebMD and U.S. News & World Report. Alabama NewsCenter is publishing advice from Dr. Ann.