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Article: Keeping in good taste. (enjoying food through taste and smell)
- Article from:
- Medical Update
- Article date:
- November 1, 1992
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1992 Benjamin Franklin Literary & Medical Society, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The sense of taste is critical to our enjoyment of food--we know how tasteless food is when we have a cold or our sense of smell is otherwise impaired. Aging affects both taste and smell, as it does other bodily functions. Many compensate for such loss by increasing their use of salt and/or sugar.
The sense of taste is a delicate one and is very much linked to the sense of smell. Although impairment of either sense affects the sense of taste, external factors are far more likely to impair the sense of smell. The olfactory receptors in the nasal mucous membrane are probably 10,000 times more sensitive than the taste buds in the mouth. They can be quickly ...