Relationship between hormones and food preferences

[AdamMLP]

First, I apologise for the clunky options.  I just wanted to be able to create a poll where any trans person, providing they're on some form of hormones, would be able to vote so that the results would narrow down on hormones more than other aspects, such as cultural expectations.  Obviously it's not going to be good for anything other than my interest, but that's it.

To put the options into more sensible English:
"Prefer red meat more when T>E"
"I prefer eating red meat more when I have more testosterone than estrogen in my body"

Obviously this only works for people who're taking hormones (so I won't be voting myself), and eat meat in the first place, unless your habits have changed in other ways as well, in which case feel free to comment about them.  Hopefully I've done it right so everyone will be able to click "view results" and see what's going on (if anyone else is interested that is.  Maybe I'm just crazy.)

The question of whether T would make me like eating liver and kidney randomly popped into my head when I was in the car the other day, and it got me thinking about how most of the time I can tell who out of a male and female sitting at a table is eating which dish when I'm serving at work.  Very stereotypically, if there was a crab and a steak, the woman would have the crab and the man the steak.  Obviously this isn't always the case, but it is often enough for both me and my mother -- and possibly others -- to have noticed and commented on it.  Women are more likely to have new potatoes rather than chips from what I've seen as well, but I'm just going to focus on red meat for simplicities sake.

There's probably nothing in it, but there might be.  Maybe I've just been reading too much into it all these years and there's something completely different to it.

[kelly_aus]

My food preferences are the same as they've always been..

[bethany]

I still like all the same foods that I have always enjoyed. The only difference I find is that I been craving spicy foods more, Like Buffalo Wings, Hot Salsa, or just adding pepper to my foods which I never done before.

[Adam (birkin)]

I find that over the past year my food preferences have changed. Not related to meat, but a few foods I used to hate I now love. I used to hate onions, now I can't get enough of them. I used to hate iced tea, now, I love it. I also have really lost a lot of interest in fatty foods - I still eat them now and again, but they're not as craveworthy

[A]

Uuuuhm. I,ve never liked meat at all, and all my life, the only way to make me eat it was to completely prepare it, cook it perfectly without any burnt, and make sure it doesn't taste like meat. But I've tolerated it for a long time.

Then I moved out on my own, and I became flexitarian. No one was making meat for me, so I didn't eat it unless I was in a situation where it would inconvenience people if I didn't (like a family dinner).

Then at some point meat disgusted me (both because of taste/texture and ethical reasons), and made me sick (literally - stomachaches, nausea and digestion problems) to such a point that I refused to eat it no matter what, and sometimes ended up eating only the sides as a result.

I think when my relationship went from bad to worse kind of fits with when I started HRT... but honestly, I'm not sure.

And I'm not sure my kind of special case has much meaning here, either.

[dreaming.forever]

On testosterone, I didn't have as frequent or strong cravings for chocolate and other sweet dessert-type stuff. Reverting to estrogen, I feel like I want chocolate freaking all the time.

But my theory is it isn't the hormones themselves, but that without testosterone I'm much more depressed than with, and chocolate = serotonin release = happier for a little while.

I'm a vegetarian so the meat aspect of the question doesn't apply to me.

[Northern Jane]

I found my desire for meat had much more to do with my physical activity level. Before I started training as a competitive figure skater, I could take it or leave it. While training, I CRAVE meat!

The only thing that really changed with HRT was my relationship with chocolate. Prior to HRT, I could take it or leave it - nothing special about chocolate. A few years after starting HRT it was quite different - I LOVE chocolate! I don't eat a lot of chocolate but every few days it becomes a craving to have a little chocolate.

[AdamMLP]

Seems like I was completely off with my meat theory, but that we might be on to something with chocolate!

[Rachel]

I am eating more including red  meat.

[pebbles]

Prior to starting HRT, I was a vegetarian who loved sweet foods (Sweets chocolate and cupcakes) so no on the T making me crave red meat...

When I started Estrogen and my body began to change I experienced strong food cravings mostly for fish beans and lemons.

After those passed my sense of taste was permanently altered slightly, unlike before where I had a strong sweet tooth I now much prefer Savoury and salty food, Seafood is still amazing and I occasionally crave it but As of the past 4 months or so I've been drifting back to vegetarian patterns, but with more salty foods Garlic bread, peanuts, humus and such as treat-snacks.

With chocolate one thing I've noticed is how incredibly addictive it is as a substance regardless of it's taste, If I don't eat it for a long time I never crave it, then I have a slice of chocolate cake, and for weeks afterwards I'm lusting for it.

[suzifrommd]

As my body produces breast tissue, I'm craving protein.

[LordKAT]

Vegetarian here, have been for.....40+ years. No change there. I do need more proteins tho, I eat eggs, peanut butter, cheese and/or beans daily.

[ErinM]

My love for red meat has remained unchanged.  The grill is still my best friend.

That said, my sense of taste has changed slightly as well. I no longer have the same love for bacon. More specifically smokey flavours are stronger and the whole flavour profile is off. I do miss being able to enjoy a Wendy's Baconator.

Also I have developed a taste for salads as a meal. Somehow my brain actually started registering lettuce as a satisfying form of food when not accompanied by bread and ground beef.

[Nero]

No real changes. I'm a fish person. Red meat only very occasionally and no foul. More a vanilla than chocolate person. That hasn't changed.
I thought I did notice some slight changes when I first started T (bacon suddenly tasted and smelled better than ever) but it could just be any change in hormones causes smell/taste changes at first. Something like pregnant women go through.

I think most dietary differences between males and females are societally influenced rather than any real biological difference. Women as a group are just more conscious of what goes into their mouths and more likely to be on diets. They're judged more for their food choices than men.

[Teela Renee]

mine stayed the same as far as  beef and chicken goes,  now fish and shrimp and other stuff like that?  when i went on estrogen my craving for sea food and salty snacks exploded.

[Cindy Stephens]

On E my food habits have stayed about the same.  But my paper products consumption has SKYROCKETED!  Between my wife and I, a sam's club mega package of bounty just disappears.  I can understand using more now that I avoid wiping my hands on a "nice" outfit, But why has my Charmin consumption gone up?  I'm sure I am not crapping any more than before.  Where does it go?

[A]

Lol. Only remotely scientific explanation to that is that if you're like me your penis has started to produce some slime that you would feel like wiping when you pee, and as such would use a bit more paper than if just wiping the pee.

But honestly, don't worry about it. Plant a couple of trees or something if it bothers you.

[Tossu-sama]

No change, I just eat more than pre-T. |D