Tips to improve your taste (and smell)

1. It is all so ordinary: You take a bite, taste that it is a bite of a banana, which you already knew because you took the banana yourself. It is so natural that we never think that it can deteriorate as we get older.

2. It is all so ordinary: You take a bite, taste that it is a bite of a banana, which you actually already knew because you took the banana yourself. It is so natural that we never think that it could deteriorate as we get older.

1. How does our taste work and what can you do to improve it?

Our senses

1. In order to communicate with the outside world, we have different senses that receive external stimuli and transmit them to the brain where they are interpreted. For example, when there is a strong wind, your skin picks up these signals, sends them to the brain where it is translated as â € The wind is blowing hardâ € ™.

2. In order to communicate with the outside world, we have different senses that receive external stimuli and transmit them to the brain where they are interpreted. For example, when there is a strong wind, your skin picks up these signals, sends them on to the brain where it is translated as â € œThe wind is strongâ €. [! 192033 => 1140 = 3!] But we can never do that with one sense. The eyes also contribute in this example: You can see that the trees are moving strongly, so â € there will be a strong windâ € ™. In this case, the information from your eyes and your skin together determine that the brain interprets this as â € hard windâ € ™.

1. But we can never do that with one sense. The eyes also contribute in this example: You can see that the trees are moving strongly, so â € there will be a strong windâ € ™. In this case, the information from your eyes and your skin together determine that the brain interprets this as â € hard windâ € ™.

1. We have 5 senses in total:

1. Anyway, we are now going to concentrate on the tongue, the taste experience and the necessity for your health to be able to taste well. We will also look at how the other senses work together with the tongue. In other words, it is not just the tongue that produces a taste sensation.

The anatomy of the tongue

1. The tongue is made up of two types of muscles: muscles that can move the tongue in the mouth, and muscles that can change the shape of the tongue. A total of 8 muscles are needed to move and shape the tongue in all desired directions.

2. The tongue is made up of two types of muscles: muscles that can move the tongue in the mouth, and muscles that can make the tongue change shape. A total of 8 muscles are needed to move and shape the tongue in all desired directions.

1. The tongue is connected to the body through the lower jaw, hyoid bone and at the very back through the base of the skull. At the bottom, the tongue is connected to the mouth itself, via the tongue tie. This tongue tie determines, among other things, how you articulate: If the tongue tie is too short, the letters l and r, for example, cannot be pronounced properly.

2. The tongue is connected to the body via the lower jaw, hyoid bone and at the very back via the base of the skull. At the bottom, the tongue is connected to the mouth itself, via the tongue tie. This tongue tie determines, among other things, how you articulate: If the tongue tie is too short, the letters l and r, for example, cannot be pronounced properly.

1. The tongue itself contains more than 9,000 taste buds or taste buds. With this we taste the 4 basic flavors: sweet, salty, bitter and sour. Recently a fifth flavor was added to this: Savory, or Umami. Research is currently underway into a possible sixth flavor with which you could possibly taste 'fat'.

1. The tongue has more functions than just tasting. You use your tongue to clean your teeth, to lick off excess saliva, as an instrument during eating and drinking, to distribute the food well in the mouth while chewing, to swallow, and of course you use your tongue when a passionate kiss.

1. In addition, the tongue plays a very important role in speaking, especially in articulating. In principle, you can live 'normally' without a tongue, but with very great limitations.

Tasting with your nose and eyes!

1. Technically, you taste with your tongue. That's completely true, but the brain needs a lot more information. Before you take a bite, your eyes already have an idea of ​​what you are going to eat, and the moment the spoon hangs under your nose, we also smell. This information, along with information from the taste buds, is sent to the brain and interpreted.

2. Technically, you taste with your tongue. That's completely true, but the brain needs a lot more information. Before you take a bite, your eyes already have an idea of ​​what you are going to eat, and the moment the spoon hangs under your nose we also smell. This information, along with information from the taste buds, is sent to the brain and interpreted.

1. Scientific experiments have been conducted with this in the past by giving people food in the form of beautiful, orange carrots, but tasted like cauliflower. The moment you take a bite, you expect it to taste like carrots, but the taste buds tell you something completely different.

2. Scientific experiments have been conducted with this in the past by giving people food in the form of beautiful, orange carrots, but tasted like cauliflower. The moment you take a bite, you expect it to taste like carrots in advance, but the taste buds tell you something completely different.

1. In addition, the odors are released during chewing and reach your nose through a special internal channel. This allows you to smell what you are eating at that moment. In the scientific test, these images did not quite match.

1. Of course this is getting used to and a learning process, but it does indicate that these three senses work very closely together in this process. The result for the test subjects: dirty, while they all normally like carrots and cauliflower.

1. In many cases, when people have a taste disorder, they think that there is something wrong with the communication between the taste buds and the brain. But in about 75% of cases this is not true at all. As mentioned earlier, aromas are released during chewing, which reach the nose through a channel. So smelling is part of the taste sensation.

1. If this channel is blocked, for example if you have a cold or the flu, these aromas cannot reach the nose and therefore the hair cells in the nose cannot be stimulated. The result is that a large part of the taste experience is lost. Tests have shown that food with taste, but without smell, has a very flat and boring taste experience.

1. So there is a very clear relationship between the sense of smell and the sense of taste.

Why is smell and taste so important?

1. Smell and taste are of course important for the sensation of food. This is fine if you are young or middle aged. But once you pass 50 years of age, the ability to perceive taste and smell diminishes little by little.

1. This fact, in combination with other physical changes in the body, has a very strong influence on the eating and digestion of food. It generally diminishes the enjoyment of life. At a later stage, this can put a huge strain on the diet.

1. It just doesn't taste like before, so the urge to eat disappears too. Elderly people in particular, therefore, eat much less, which can lead to unwanted weight loss with all its consequences.

1. Another important function of taste is to protect against toxic external hazards. Smell and taste also protect you from spoiled food. You see moldy food immediately, so you don't eat it. But if the food is rotten, but you don't see it, you can smell it. And even if you don't smell or see anything, you can taste it.

1. In the worst case, you just spit the food out again, preventing the spoiled food from reaching the body. This also applies to poisonous berries, for example. Since the bitter taste experience is the strongest taste, you are protected from eating poisonous berries, for example, which in most cases have a bitter taste.

1. [!Pullquote] Something bitter always means danger to the body. [!/ Pullquote]

Umami, the fifth flavor

1. I mentioned it earlier in this article. A Japanese researcher has discovered that there is a fifth taste sensor: Umami. Umami is better known as Glutamate. This is the â € heartâ € ™ taste experience. Glutamate exists in several compounds such as Sodium Glutamate or Calcium Glutamate.

1. But regardless of which compound it forms, Glutamate remains Glutamate. By eating Glutamate you get a better taste experience, which increases appetite. So this would be an excellent aid to get the elderly to eat with taste again, to get them to eat again.

1. There is another sixth flavor under investigation, namely that of â € ˜fatâ € ™. It is suspected that this is also present, but scientific evidence has not yet been provided. So let's just wait…

Tips to improve your taste (and smell)

1. In many cases, the taste and smell are flattened by eating too much or eating too quickly. In the long run, the taste experience will deteriorate. This is very unfortunate and certainly unnecessary. I hereby give you a number of tips for improving your taste and fragrance:

1. Conclusions and recommendations

1. Take care of your taste buds. Keep it in shape by eating alternately. You will have great benefits from this, especially at a later age. In this way you can enjoy the taste and smell for as long as possible, with as little deterioration as possible over time ..

1. Any questions regarding this article? Let me know by leaving a comment below!