Cilantro Love and Hate: Is It A Genetic Trait? Hello, Cilantrophobia!

I honestly eat a LOT of cilantro! I just love it! When we eat at Chiptole or Cafe Rio, I always ask for more, and then a little bit more … my son teases that I’m really having a cilantro salad!

We buy it fresh every week and keep it fresh by putting it in a glass with water, then covering up the top with a plastic bag, kind of like a shower cap. There are actually some awesome refrigerator herb keeper containers at Amazon, but the glass and plastic bag works great too.

I eat it often, though Bob’s not nearly as fond of it, which is not unusual because  Cilantro seems to be one of those things you really love, or absolutely DON’T  I’ve always wondered why until Susan’s comment yesterday … so here’s the word:

Apparently it tastes either deliciously bright and fresh … or SOAPY or even BITTER depending on a genetic variant buried inside a cluster of odor-detecting, smell-influencing genes.  Here it is:  The reason you hate (or adore) cilantro is its smell that you either are genetically and positively inclined to, or absolutely aren’t. 

While your own nose and tastebuds can provide all the proof you need, DNA testing will also scientifically tell if you will hate cilantro.  This particluar test will also tell you what time you’re most likely to wake up, the thickness of your hair, your sensitivity to sound and more.  Isn’t that crazy?  You can easily Google this yourself or CLICK HERE to get started.

Even famous master chef Julia Child hates it! So if you do too, you’re in excellent company!

While cilantro has many health/medicinal benefits (some are listed below) it’s earliest roots come from many, many years ago when, as hunters and gatherers, our sense of taste and smell developed in a way to evoke strong emotions.  These senses helped us find food when it was scarce, avoid poisonous plants and to know when something had gone bad.  Fascinating!

Cilantro, if it’s something you enjoy, can be a wonderful blessing to your health!

1.  Helps remove harmful heavy metals;

2.  Supports heart health;

3.  Balances blood sugar levels;

4. Eases anxiety.  One study with mice shows that a cilantro extract is just as effective as some medicines … with none of the side effects from chemically based drugs!

(And of course, there’s always our wonderful Settle Down that’s so helpful for anxiety and agitation! See it at www.JustSettleDown.com)

5.  Helps prevent food poisoning through protection from listeria, a bacteria that often causes food poisoning.

6.  Protects your brain by combating chronic inflammation and oxidative damage through providing loads of antioxidants and vitamins; and

7. Supports vision through high amounts of Vitamin A.

You can read the entire article online HERE.

GOOD NEWS:  If you’re someone who just doesn’t want to eat cilantro every day like me, you can easily have it’s benefits through a supplement as cilantro pills.  I found a number to choose from at Amazon just seaching for “cilantro supplement.”

So love it or hate it, it’ll do your body good!