Healthy people can taste the 5 taste sensations on their tongues: sweet, salt, sour, bitter, and umami, (glutamate or savory). We are seeing more patients at Caring Medical, who have lost some or all ability to taste. This is partly due to an overdeveloped taste for sweet, and underdeveloped other tastes, however, more serious reasons exist.
Sweet: Sweetness is the “pleasure” taste, a source of energy, hence people gravitate toward it, even babies. Sweetness compliments other tastes and often takes the food to the next level. Unfortunately, many are addicted to the sweet taste.
Salty: A fresh food diet is inherently a low-sodium diet. Salt is needed for life, especially living in hot climates with perspiration. This is the simplest taste receptor in the body.
Sour: The sour taste receptor detects acidity in the form of hydrogen ions, hence the mouth-pucker with citrus, as well as fermented foods such as yogurt, vinegar, and sauerkraut. Enhancing food with citrus zest or drizzling with vinegar can improve your sour taste buds!
Bitter: Bitter is the most sensitive taste. Many actually love the bitter taste of beer, dark chocolate, and coffee. The high levels of antioxidants in bitter foods account for their taste – thus, they ARE good for you.
Umami (savory): Foods with strong flavors such as parmesan, Roquefort cheeses, as well as soy sauce and fish sauce are examples of umami. The taste is most intense when combined with sodium. Since not all glutamate (MSG) produces a savory taste sensation, investigation continues in this area.
What causes an impaired taste? Infection, such as cold, flu, sinus, strep, or salivary infections; smoking; gum disease; medications especially cancer treatments; autoimmune diseases; nutritional deficiencies, commonly B12 and Zinc, and head or neck injuries. All of these conditions may alter one’s ability to smell, which highly correlates with the ability to taste. Unfortunately, our facedown lifestyle (cell phone addiction) has significantly contributed to loss of taste, specifically due to glossopharyngeal nerve, also known as cranial nerve IX, impairment. The good news is that we can test and document nerve injury, as well as provide treatments that regenerate them. Bottom line here is if you are losing your sense of taste, do not take it lightly.