Hate Cilantro? Don’t Be So Quick To Blame Your Genes

The taste of cilantro changed for me and others after doing this for a while — and that’s why mainstream science seems to have it wrong

Photo by author. Best way to keep cilantro fresh is to wash it, place in a cotton bag (or roll in dish towel) while still damp, close, and store in the fridge.

For the longest time, I couldn’t understand why people bothered to eat cilantro, also known as coriander in other parts of the world. Why would anyone want their food to taste like soap? I wondered.

And I wasn’t alone. Countless other people feel this way about the herb — even as others find it irresistible. A woman at a hair salon recently told me that she and her husband can’t get enough of it, while her daughter said she couldn’t understand why. Chances are you’re one or the other, too. What could possibly account for two such distinct camps of lovers and haters?

We thought we had answers when a 2012 scientific study published in the journal Flavour suggested that a specific gene influences how we perceive the taste of cilantro:

These results confirm that there is a genetic component to cilantro taste perception and suggest that cilantro dislike may stem from genetic variants in olfactory receptors. We propose that one of a cluster of olfactory receptor genes, perhaps OR6A2, may be the olfactory receptor that contributes to the detection of a soapy smell from cilantro in European populations.

As I learned in my graduate-level quantitative research courses, it’s standard practice for scientists to use cautious humility in the conclusions of their published research, because true scientists understand that there is always a chance that flaws in their research can be discovered later. This is why suggest and may be are key words in the quote above. But such acknowledgment of possible unknowns often gets lost in sensationalist news media that oversimplifies complex subjects. So it’s good to remind ourselves once in a while that scientific findings that seem conclusive at first can still be questioned, investigated, and invalidated in the future. (For examples of this, see the work of Retraction Watch — a group of journalists dedicated to exposing flawed scientific studies that were later retracted after they had been published. Just because something is called science does not necessarily mean it is correct; scientific research is just as prone to human error and political deception as any other field.)

At the time this news linking cilantro taste to genes came out, there wasn’t any widely-known evidence to counter that study — so, like most people, I accepted the gene-based theory and assumed I’d always dislike cilantro.

Then in 2018, I discovered Anthony William, aka Medical Medium, the unusual source of channeled health information who was helping millions of people heal from chronic illnesses — including the very same skin and gut disorders that had plagued me for nearly 30 years but that all the doctors I’d seen never helped me resolve.

(To learn more about who Medical Medium is, how he gets his information, astonishing evidence of how scientific studies later confirmed what he had already been saying, and how his information has helped so many heal, see this story below:)

What Happened to Bryan Kohberger? Part 1: Surprising Information on His Hidden Health Conditions

Desperate for help with my health problems, I ordered two of Medical Medium’s books. As I read them I was astounded by his words about my symptoms and their true origins. Suddenly everything made sense! I felt so seen and cared for after getting nothing but dismissive shrugs and useless drugs from doctors.

From Medical Medium I learned that my body was full of toxins and pathogens (including antibiotic-resistant strep) wreaking havoc on my various systems, especially my liver — but also that I could detoxify this mess and heal using foods and supplements.

So I started to incorporate his most popular healing tools into my daily routine: 32 oz of lemon water first thing in the morning and, a little later, 16–32 oz of celery juice.

I also started making his heavy metal detox smoothie (HMDS) for breakfast. Why?

Toxic heavy metals — Medical Medium’s term for the harmful, industrial-grade forms of metals that we absorb through food, water, air, medications, and more — clog our livers, interfere with brain function, and feed pathogens in the body.

The HMDS contains five key ingredients that all work together to extract heavy metals from tissue and safely transport them out of the body. The ingredients? Wild blueberries, barley grass juice powder, spirulina, Atlantic dulse, and cilantro. A full cup of that last one. (Yikes!)

Medical Medium says that cilantro is an important heavy metal detoxifier for the brain, as it contains mineral salts and phytochemicals that pass through the blood-brain barrier and remove toxic metal residue from neurons, improving their functioning.

That’s cool. But what really intrigued me is his alternative explanation for why so many dislike the taste of cilantro:

While many people love the rich, savory flavor of cilantro, others get a bad taste in their mouths whenever they eat it. Try not to get caught up in the trend that theorizes that a dislike of cilantro has to do with genes. This genetic concept hasn’t been studied widely enough — if it were, researchers would [understand] that there is not a gene that determines whether or not a person has an aversion to cilantro. There are no genes that tell us not to eat a certain food.

What’s really going on with cilantro aversion? When a person perceives an abrupt, harsh flavor from the herb, it means that she or he has a higher oxidative rate of heavy metals in her or his system. This doesn’t mean the person possesses a higher level of toxic heavy metals. Rather, the heavy metals (in this case, usually a combination of aluminum, nickel, and/or copper, at whatever level) in her or his body are corroding rapidly. Corrosion means that there’s toxic runoff, which makes its way into a person’s lymphatic system and saliva. The moment cilantro makes contact with the mouth, its phytochemicals start to bind onto any oxidative runoff they encounter — if there’s a lot of this debris in a person’s saliva, it can result in a harsh sensation when eating cilantro. In other words, if someone dislikes cilantro, there’s a good chance she or he really needs it.

An answer that made sense to me! And it started to make even more sense when I noticed testimonies cropping up in social media of people drinking the HMDS and finding after a while that they dislike cilantro less and less!

So I wondered: Would that happen to me?

Photo by author. Whipping up an advanced HMDS — with twice the cilantro.

Certainly not in the first few years of making the smoothie — because detox can take a while, depending on your body’s toxin load. During that time I did all I could to mask the flavor with natural sweeteners like extra bananas, honey, and/or dates.

Over time I started to notice major improvements in my health: Some symptoms of my gut disorder cleared up completely and others became less and less noticeable, and my skin disorder disappeared for good. I had way more energy and my brain felt so much clearer than it used to.

This amazed me: Decades of pharmaceuticals had done nothing to fix my health — while a few years of Medical Medium’s plant-based protocols have more or less healed me. It sure made me rethink the role of conventional medicine in treating chronic illness.

At that point I didn’t care about whether the taste of cilantro would change for me; I was just happy to be getting my health back.

But then . . .

In October of last year, Medical Medium released his latest books: a two-volume set on the brain, titled Brain Saver and Brain Saver Protocols. In them he provides many new healing recipes, including the advanced HMDS, which doubles many of the ingredients found in the original version. Cilantro’s one of them.

I braced myself for the soapy onslaught and junked up my advanced HMDS with extra bananas and honey to mask the flavor. But after a couple of months of this, wanting to streamline the process, I decided to cut out the added sweeteners. And you know what? I found the smoothie deliciously savory and seriously crave-worthy! And I found that I could eat sprigs of cilantro straight — without detecting a hint of soap. I was finally experiencing the herb’s true flavor.

Given this remarkable change in taste coinciding with a clearing of health symptoms, it sure seems I’ve been successfully detoxing my body of toxic heavy metals. Thank you, Medical Medium! And thanks for the tough love, cilantro; things started off rocky between us but our relationship only made me stronger — and now I adore you.

The lessons here?

1. Science is an ever-evolving field with plenty more to learn.
2. Sometimes valid health information comes from unusual sources beyond the bounds of conventional science.
3. Just because a health protocol hasn’t undergone rigorous scientific testing doesn’t mean it can’t work. There are thousands of testimonials online from people who tried conventional medicine for chronic illness, found it didn’t work for them, then tried Medical Medium’s protocols and healed. That’s a different kind of evidence worth paying attention to.

Note: I’m not sponsored by or affiliated with Medical Medium in any way. I simply feel compelled to share his information because it has massively improved my own health and that of so many others.

I’ve decided to make all my content on Medium free. If you find my writing enjoyable or helpful, feel free to make a PayPal donation to me. Thank you.