AYURVEDA PERSPECTIVE ON LIMITED SENSE OF TASTE

Humans have taste buds for sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter, astringent, and umami. Aroma of food (flavor) is interpreted by the nose. Often, people who go to the doctor complaining of diminished taste are surprised to learn that loss of smell is the cause. When the nose is stuffed, the aroma of the food is blocked from the nose, making food taste bland. True loss of taste is rare - loss of smell is much more common.

Thousands of nerve endings, especially on the moist surfaces of the eyes, nose, mouth, and throat, help you to determine chemical properties of food, a kind of taste called "common chemical sense." These nerve endings help you interpret heat, cold, and texture. Together, all these sensations help your body develop a relationship with the food you are eating.

These nerve endings give rise to sensations such as the coolness of mint and the burning or irritation of chili peppers. Other specialized nerves give rise to the sensations of heat, cold, and texture. When we eat, the sensations from the five taste qualities, together with the sensations from the common chemical sense and the sensations of heat, cold, and texture, combine with a food's aroma to produce a perception of flavor. It is flavor that lets us know whether we are eating a pear or an apple.

Gustin is the common hormone responsible for growth and maintenance of all sense organs, including taste buds and olfactory bulbs. Gustin is called the salivary hormone because it is responsible for making the mouth water. Gustin is a zinc-metalloprotein, making zinc the primary trace metal related to physical sensation. All of the sense organs depend on adequate levels of zinc for growth and maintenance. Low zinc is directly related to low gustin, as well as poor sense of taste and smell. Many people with a limited sense of taste found that their tastes returned to normal after taking zinc supplements for less than a week.

A dry mouth diminishes your sense of taste. A lingering unpleasant taste in the mouth after eating can distort or diminish taste sensations. Too many sweets can diminish tongue sensitivity. Metallic silverware can distort taste. A burning sensation in the mouth can diminish sense of taste.

Ear infections, dental surgery, and chemotherapy can distort taste, as well as poor dental hygiene. Exposure to pesticides and pharmaceuticals can impair taste. Nerve degeneration such as in Parkinson's can cause loss of taste, as can the use of albuterol to treat asthma. Interestingly, anesthesia is often used to diagnose loss of taste, as often taste improves after dosage. The best way to improve taste is by increasing hunger.

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