Did you know that the number of taste buds we have start to decrease as we age? Not only that, but did you know that women actually have more taste buds on their tongues than men and that women can also start to lose their taste buds faster than men? As if these weren’t facts weren’t enough of a marvel about our bodies, our sense of taste also starts to decline in our 60’s and even more in our 70’s.
From general changes in our taste buds to losing them, there are a few things that would be interesting to know. If you’re a senior, let’s talk about how our sense of taste is affected over time and how you can rejuvenate your taste buds if needed.
Why Does the Sense of Taste Change With Age?
As we get older, our taste buds begin to disappear and the taste buds that remain will start to shrink. This is just something that comes with age like losing muscle mass, experiencing diminished eyesight, or a reduction in the way that we can hear. We could say, it’s just one of those things that everyone will have to deal with at some point and it will be different for each person.
People still wonder, how this exactly happens and what actually causes our sense of taste to diminish with age along with why our taste buds start to decrease. As for our sense of taste, this could be caused by several things. A few factors could be;
- Medical conditions
- Deficiencies in certain nutrients
- Damage to our nerves
- Experiencing a viral or bacterial infection
Most of these things are dependent on the individual and if you are currently taking certain medications, experiencing certain medical conditions, or recovering from sickness. The more scientific answer is that our cells simply start to lose sensitivity after the age of 50 and this will progress more over time until we reach our 60’s and start to see more noticeable signs of how we experience different flavors and smells.
Of course, this will not always be the case for people that surpass the age of 60. You could very well still have the same reactions of taste when you bite into your favorite food well into your senior years but the thing is, it’s always possible to notice a difference.
When wondering about how and why our taste buds actually start to disappear, the concept is essentially the same. Aside from the condition referred to as ageusia which is when you fully lose your sense of taste, the factors that will alter your taste buds will be the same.
Can Your Taste Buds Grow Back?
The good news is that it is technically possible for your taste buds to grow back. They can actually start to regenerate every one to two weeks. After they regenerate, it is possible to reacclimate them to the tastes we’re used to or our preferred palettes.
The bad news is that after a certain point, the regeneration of our taste buds becomes less successful. What this means is that after we reach a certain age, fewer of our taste buds will start to regenerate with each cycle as we get older.
Ways to Revive Your Taste Buds
Rejuvenating your taste buds may become necessary at some point as you get older or even as you work through recovery from sickness or the effects of medications. At least 200,000 people, each year actively look for help regarding issues with their sense of taste or smell. A few things that you can do to help revive your taste buds would be to;
- Eating a variety of different colored fruits
- Embracing sour flavors such as lemon
- Talk to your doctor about smell-training therapy if appropriate
- Do your best to avoid combined foods such as casseroles and other one-pot dishes
- Having a variety of spices will be a good thing
- Ask your physician if any of your current medications have side effects such as loss of smell or taste and have your medication changed if so
Things like this will help to jumpstart your taste buds in a way. Eating sour foods can increase the amount of saliva in your mouth and help improve your taste buds and spicy foods can help with the same thing. Additionally, if you’re a senior, keep in mind that oral health starts to diminish with age as well so do your best to stay on top of dental visits and personal oral hygiene.
Being Proactive Can Only Help
As we get older, the number of taste buds we have will slowly start to decrease. While this isn’t something that we can completely stop, it is something that we can be proactive about and extend the time that we have with fully functioning senses of smell and taste.
If you’re a senior living in Florida, one of the best things you can do to enhance your health and quality of experiences with food, drinks, and different aromas will be to stay on top of your dental care, the side effects of your medications, and assessing how your senses are changing with age.
