Growing up I was never really into trying new things. I liked the food I liked and that was that. Trying new things was scary. Horrible tastes, smells and textures and if I didn’t already like it, the chances were I wouldn’t like it. I was no where near as fussy as some children, there was usually something on the menu that I would eat. But my family couldn’t get a Chinese takeaway unless there was an English section on the menu. I didn’t even like omelettes which seemed to be on a lot of those menus. I didn’t even start to like pizza until I was thirteen. I remember that first pizza I actually enjoyed. It was a pepperoni one at that big theme park in Paris. The one with the mouse, I’m sure you know it. 🙂 I wouldn’t have normally tried the pizza but it was a long day and a very limited menu. Even in my late teens and early twenties I wasn’t into much that involved flavour, seasoning or spice.
When I was twenty five years old I was really unwell and I needed quite a lot of blood. I had quite a few blood transfusions over a number of days. I think it is fair to say that most of my own blood was replaced by somebody else’s. This is a really strange thought, but I am so grateful to the people who donated their blood. I often wonder who they are and what they are like. One thing that I am pretty sure of is that they like food! And I think they are possibly from a different ethnic background to me. Since having these blood transfusions I like so much more food and I am willing to try almost anything. Trying food used to be such a big deal to me because I might not like it. These days I think just try it. I might actually like it and if I don’t, it doesn’t matter. The only thing I really won’t try is squidgy looking sea food.
Foreign foods started to seem a lot more interesting. While I was in hospital I really enjoyed the chicken in chilli sauce that was often on the menu. It came with sweet potato wedges which were also quite spicy, so there was nothing on the plate to cool things down. This was really quite hot and I was really surprised that I liked it. I was just so bored with the shepherd’s pie and roast dinners that were also on the menu a lot. So if there was something else on there that I fancied trying I thought I might as well, it’s not like I was paying for it. I was in hospital for just under three months, so there was a lot of gristly shepherd’s pie to avoid.
When I came out of hospital I kept wanting to try new things. At last new food had become interesting and not scary. Even drinks, I used to hate coffee. The smell and the taste of it was just horrible, something that I would never like. Now, coffee is my go to drink. If I am feeling stressed, tired, or in need of cheering up, coffee always helps. How did that even happen? I didn’t just suddenly like coffee though, it was a gradual thing. I kind of wanted to like it. The lattes and cappuccinos looked so nice and they actually started to smell nice. So every so often I would try a bit of my Dad’s cappuccino. Then one day I ended up having one all to myself. I still didn’t like water based coffee for quite a while though, just the milky ones. I still don’t like really strong bitter coffee, but I do like a lot more coffee than I used to.
These days I actually order Chinese food from a Chinese restaurant and I actually like it! I also like more Indian food than I used to. I tried pakoras and onion bhajis for the first time last night and I loved them. They were only supermarket ones, so hardly authentic but I really enjoyed them and I am going to buy some more. That’s what got me thinking about this post. Vegetables and spices, the two things that I hated the most in food and now I love something that is just vegetables and spices. I can’t quite believe it.
A few things happened around that time which could have contributed to the big change of taste. I stopped drinking, so I enjoyed food a lot more in general. But I enjoyed food as a teenager, I just wouldn’t try new food. At the time of the change I had been seriously unwell, so I realised that life is to short for messing about. Trying new things and not liking them is not the end of the world. At least I have tried them. So my attitude towards it changed quite a lot. But I do really believe that the blood has played a big part in this. I have heard that people who have had an organ transplant sometimes gain a few of the donar’s personality traits. So can this happen for blood? I have looked into it a while ago and I saw that there is no medical evidence to support this, but not much testing has been done to find out. However other people have experienced similar things and have come to the same belief. I am really intrigued to hear from anybody else who has had similar experiences with blood transfusions, so please do get in touch. Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post or using the contact page. Alternatively you could use my social media pages.
Giving blood really does save lives. So if you have been thinking about doing it and you are able to, please do. If it wasn’t for the kindness of the people giving blood then I wouldn’t be here today. For more information, if you live in the UK please click on the button below. This will direct you to the NHS Blood Donation website.
xx ❤ xx
Glitter In The Darkness 