Three Tips For The Ageing Taste Buds

As we age, our ability to smell and taste diminishes. Most taste loss is secondary to smell loss, but people notice the taste loss more and think of it as "taste loss" even though the underlying cause may be smell loss. Testing can often help determine whether smell or taste loss is the primary diagnosis.

Taste can begin to decline as early as age 30 and is progressive - it increases with the passing years. Most people over 50 report that food tastes a bit "flatter" or that flavour is "more blunted" than it was in their youth. This tends to cause the overuse of sugar and sweet as people try to compensate for their inability to taste as well. Too much salt and sugar can be very harmful to those with hypertension or diabetes so it is something that should be carefully monitored.

Sometimes the cause of our age related taste loss is the accumulation of years of taste bud damage from excess use of very hot, spicy foods. If you are very fond of these spices you may be damaging your taste buds. The need for ever-increasing "heat" is not a sign that you are getting used to hot peppers, it's a sign you have damaged your taste buds.

Fortunately, if you are younger than 50, your taste buds will regenerate fairly quickly, so damage can be quickly repaired if you stop using these hot spices. However, over the age of 50 taste buds do not regrow nearly as quickly so extra care should be taken to avoid damage.

In fact, about half of those between the ages of 65 and 80 will suffer from this problem though many are unaware of it. By the time we are over 80, three-quarters of us will have problems with our smell and taste.

I know from personal experience with my mom, just how many problems this can cause. For some time now, she has been complaining that food no longer has any taste and that she can't smell things as well. Now at 85, we find she is using sour milk and completely unaware of it. She eats less and less and seems to have very little appetite at all.

I embarked on a journey to learn all that I could to help her. I've learned that there are changes in the body that underlie taste loss and that it nearly always begins with smell loss. This is because true taste loss is much less common than smell loss and though few people know it, smell is an integral part of the taste experience.

As our body ages there are structural changes that occur in the skull that lead to a pinching of the olfactory (smell) nerve. Once this nerve gets pinched the messages can no longer get passed along to the brain and our brain tells us that it doesn't smell anything.

Additionally, blood flow to the brain decreases as we age and this causes the brain to work less well. Exercise is an important way to help increase blood flow, but unfortunately many older people do not get enough of it. Experts believe that exercise does help those with smell and taste loss, so if it all possible it should be incorporated into a daily routine. It doesn't have to be a lot either - just 10 minutes a day - before each meal can make a significant difference!

Finally, a third factor in the age related loss of taste and smell is an increase in the thickness of the nasal mucous which blocks the uptake of odor molecules. Drinking plenty of fluids helps to thin out the nasal mucous. Proper hydration is also known to improve smell and taste loss. When I worked with older patients who hated the taste of water, I recommended they try the many flavoured waters that are on the market today. This is a great tip for anyone that isn't fond of plain water.

Avoiding extremely spicy foods, getting some exercise, and drinking plenty of fluids are three simple ways to improve the sense of smell and taste.

Read Concept of 6 tastes or rasa in Ayurveda

By Kerry Hook