Inventing a new dish is more important for happiness
humanity than the discovery of a new planet.
Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
The most simple joy in our life - to eat deliciously. But how difficult it is to explain from a scientific point of view what happens! However, the physiology of taste is still at the very beginning of its journey. For example, the receptors for sweet and bitter were discovered only ten years ago. But they alone are not enough to explain all the joys of gourmet food.
From tongue to brain
How many tastes does our tongue sense? Everyone knows the taste of sweet, sour, salty, bitter. Now, to these four main ones, which were described in the 19th century by the German physiologist Adolf Fick, a fifth has been officially added - the taste of umami (from the Japanese word “umai” - tasty, pleasant). This taste is typical for protein products: meat, fish and broths based on them. In an attempt to find out the chemical basis of this taste, the Japanese chemist, professor at Tokyo Imperial University Kikunae Ikeda analyzed chemical composition seaweed Laminariajaponica, the main ingredient in Japanese soups with a strong umami flavor. In 1908, he published a paper on glutamic acid as a carrier of umami taste. Later, Ikeda patented the technology for producing monosodium glutamate, and the Ajinomoto company began producing it. However, umami was only recognized as the fifth fundamental taste in the 1980s. New tastes that are not yet included in the classification are also being discussed today: for example, metallic taste (zinc, iron), the taste of calcium, licorice, the taste of fat, the taste of pure water. It was previously thought that the "fat taste" was simply a specific texture and smell, but a study on rodents conducted by Japanese scientists in 1997 showed that their taste system also recognizes lipids. (We'll talk more about this later.)
The human tongue is covered with more than 5,000 papillae of various shapes (Fig. 1). Mushroom-shaped ones occupy mainly the two anterior thirds of the tongue and are scattered over the entire surface, groove-shaped (cup-shaped) are located behind, at the root of the tongue - they are large and easy to see, leaf-shaped are closely spaced folds in the lateral part of the tongue. Each of the papillae contains taste buds. There are also some taste buds in the epiglottis, back wall throats and soft palate, but mainly they, of course, focus on the papillae of the tongue. The kidneys have their own specific set of taste buds. So, at the tip of the tongue there are more receptors for sweetness - it feels it much better, the edges of the tongue feel sour and salty better, and its base is bitter. In total, we have approximately 10,000 taste buds in our mouths, and they give us the sense of taste.
Each taste bud (Fig. 2) contains several dozen taste cells. On their surface there are cilia, on which the molecular machine is localized, providing recognition, amplification and transformation of taste signals. Actually, the taste bud itself does not reach the surface of the mucous membrane of the tongue - only the taste pore enters the oral cavity. Substances dissolved in saliva diffuse through the pore into the fluid-filled space above the taste bud, and there they come into contact with the cilia, the outer parts of the taste cells. On the surface of the cilia there are specific receptors that selectively bind molecules dissolved in saliva, become active and trigger a cascade of biochemical reactions in the taste cell. As a result, the latter releases a neurotransmitter, it stimulates the taste nerve, and electrical impulses carrying information about the intensity of the taste signal go along the nerve fibers to the brain. Receptor cells are renewed approximately every ten days, so if you burn your tongue, the taste will only be lost temporarily.
A molecule of a substance that causes a certain taste sensation can only contact its receptor. If there is no such receptor or it or the biochemical reaction cascades associated with it do not work, then the substance will not cause a taste sensation. Significant progress in understanding molecular mechanisms taste was achieved relatively recently. Thus, we recognize bitter, sweet and umami thanks to receptors discovered in 1999 - 2001. All of them belong to the large family of GPCRs ( G protein-coupled receptors), coupled with G proteins. These G proteins are located inside the cell, are excited when interacting with active receptors and trigger all subsequent reactions. By the way, in addition to taste substances, GPCR-type receptors can recognize hormones, neurotransmitters, odorous substances, pheromones - in a word, they are like antennas that receive a wide variety of signals.
Today it is known that the receptor for sweet substances is a dimer of two receptor proteins T1R2 and T1R3, the dimer T1R1-T1R3 is responsible for the taste of umami (glutamate has other receptors, some of them are located in the stomach, innervated by the vagus nerve and are responsible for the feeling of pleasure from food), but we owe the feeling of bitterness to the existence of about thirty receptors of the T2R group. A bitter taste is a danger signal, since most poisonous substances have this taste.
Apparently, for this reason, there are more “bitter” receptors: the ability to distinguish danger in time can be a matter of life and death. Some molecules, such as saccharin, can activate both the sweet T1R2-T1R3 pair of receptors and the bitter T2R receptors (particularly hTAS2R43 in humans), so saccharin tastes both sweet and bitter on the tongue. This allows us to distinguish it from sucrose, which only activates T1R2-T1R3.
Fundamentally different mechanisms underlie the formation of the sensations of sour and salty. The chemical and physiological definitions of “sour” are essentially the same: it is responsible for the increased concentration of H + ions in the analyzed solution. Table salt is known to be sodium chloride. When a change in the concentration of these ions - carriers of sour and salty tastes - occurs, the corresponding ion channels immediately react, that is, transmembrane proteins that selectively pass ions into the cell. Acid receptors are actually cation-permeable ion channels that are activated by extracellular protons. Salt receptors are sodium channels, the flow of ions through which increases with increasing concentration of sodium salts in the taste pore. However, potassium and lithium ions are also perceived as “salty”, but the corresponding receptors have not yet been definitely found.
Why do you lose taste when you have a runny nose? Air has difficulty passing into the upper part of the nasal passages, where the olfactory cells are located. The sense of smell temporarily disappears, so we have a poor sense of taste, too, since these two sensations are closely related (and the sense of smell is the more important the richer the food in aromas). Odor molecules are released in the mouth when we chew food, travel up the nasal passages and are recognized by olfactory cells. How important the sense of smell is in the perception of taste can be understood by pinching your nose. Coffee, for example, will simply become bitter. By the way, people who complain of loss of taste actually mostly have problems with their sense of smell. A person has approximately 350 types of olfactory receptors, and this is enough to recognize a huge variety of odors. After all, every fragrance consists of large number components, so many receptors are activated at once. As soon as odorous molecules bind to the olfactory receptors, it triggers a chain of reactions in the nerve endings, and a signal is generated that is also sent to the brain.
Now about temperature receptors, which are also very important. Why does mint give you a feeling of freshness, but pepper burns your tongue? The menthol found in mint activates the TRPM8 receptor. This cation channel, discovered in 2002, begins to work when the temperature drops below 37 o C - that is, it is responsible for the formation of the feeling of cold. Menthol lowers the temperature threshold for TRPM8 activation, so when it enters the mouth, the cold sensation occurs at a constant temperature environment. Capsaicin, one of the components of hot pepper, on the contrary, activates heat receptors TRPV1 - ion channels similar in structure to TRPM8. But unlike cold weather, TRPV1 are activated when the temperature rises above 37 o C. This is why capsaicin causes a burning sensation. The piquant tastes of other spices - cinnamon, mustard, cumin - are also recognized by temperature receptors. By the way, the temperature of food has great value- taste is expressed maximum when it is equal to or slightly higher than the temperature of the oral cavity.
Oddly enough, teeth are also involved in the perception of taste. The texture of food is reported to us by pressure sensors located around the roots of the teeth. The chewing muscles, which “assess” the hardness of food, also take part in this. It has been proven that when there are many teeth in the mouth with the nerves removed, the sense of taste changes.
In general, taste is, as doctors say, a multimodal sensation. The following information must be brought together: from chemical selective taste receptors, thermal receptors, data from mechanical sensors of teeth and chewing muscles, as well as olfactory receptors, which are affected by volatile food components.
In about 150 milliseconds, the first information about taste stimulation reaches the central cerebral cortex. Delivery is carried out by four nerves. The facial nerve transmits signals coming from the taste buds, which are located on the front of the tongue and on the roof of the mouth, the trigeminal nerve transmits information about texture and temperature in the same area, glossopharyngeal nerve relays taste information from the posterior third of the tongue. Transmits information from the throat and epiglottis nervus vagus. The signals then pass through the medulla oblongata and end up in the thalamus. It is there that taste signals connect with olfactory signals and together go to the taste zone of the cerebral cortex (Fig. 3).
All information about a product is processed by the brain simultaneously. For example, when there is a strawberry in the mouth, it will be a sweet taste, a strawberry smell, a juicy texture with seeds. Signals from the senses, processed in many parts of the cerebral cortex, are mixed to produce a complex picture. After a second we already understand what we are eating. Moreover, the overall picture is created by the nonlinear addition of the components. For example, the acidity of lemon juice can be masked with sugar, and it will seem less sour, although its proton content will not decrease.
Small and big
Young children have more taste buds, which is why they perceive everything so keenly and are so picky about food. What seemed bitter and disgusting in childhood is easily swallowed with age. In older people, many of the taste buds die off, so food often seems bland to them. There is an effect of getting used to the taste - over time, the severity of the sensation decreases. Moreover, addiction to sweet and salty foods develops faster than to bitter and sour foods. That is, people who are used to heavily salting or sweetening their food do not feel salt and sugar. There are other interesting effects. For example, getting used to bitter increases sensitivity to sour and salty, and adaptation to sweet sharpens the perception of all other tastes.
The child learns to distinguish smells and tastes already in the womb. By swallowing and inhaling amniotic fluid, the embryo masters the entire palette of smells and tastes that the mother perceives. And even then he forms the passions with which he will come into this world. For example, pregnant women were offered sweets with anise ten days before giving birth, and then they watched how the newborns behaved in the first four days of life. Those whose mothers ate anise sweets clearly distinguished this smell and turned their heads in its direction. According to other studies, the same effect is observed with garlic, carrots or alcohol.
Certainly, taste preferences strongly depend on family food traditions, on the customs of the country in which the person grew up. In Africa and Asia, grasshoppers, ants and other insects are tasty and nutritious food, but in Europeans they cause a gag reflex. One way or another, nature has left us a little room for choice: exactly how you will experience this or that taste is largely predetermined genetically.
Genes dictate the menu
Sometimes it seems to us that we ourselves choose what food we like, or, in extreme cases, that we eat what our parents taught us to eat. But scientists are increasingly inclined to believe that genes make the choice for us. After all, people taste the same substance differently, and the thresholds of taste sensitivity in different people also differ greatly - up to “taste blindness” to individual substances. Today, researchers are seriously asking the question: Are some people really programmed to eat French fries and gain weight, while others happily eat boiled potatoes? This is especially concerning in the United States, which is facing a real obesity epidemic.
The question of the genetic predetermination of smell and taste was first raised in 1931, when DuPont chemist Arthur Fox synthesized the odorous molecule phenylthiocarbamide (PTC). His colleague noticed a pungent odor that came from the substance, much to the surprise of Fox, who did not smell anything. He also found the substance tasteless, while the same colleague found it very bitter. Fox checked the FTC on all members of his family - no one smelled...
This 1931 publication spawned a number of sensitivity studies - not only to PTC, but to bitter substances in general. Approximately 50% of Europeans were insensitive to the bitterness of phenylthiourea, but only 30% of Asians and 1.4% of Amazon Indians. The gene responsible for this was discovered only in 2003. It turned out that it encodes a receptor protein for taste cells. In different individuals, this gene exists in different versions, and each of them encodes a slightly different receptor protein - accordingly, phenylthiocarbamide can interact with it well, poorly, or not at all. That's why different people bitterness is distinguished to varying degrees. Since then, about 30 genes encoding the recognition of bitter taste have been discovered.
How does this affect our taste preferences? Many people try to answer this question. It seems to be known that those who detect the bitter taste of FTC have an aversion to broccoli and Brussels sprouts. These vegetables contain molecules whose structure is similar to FTC. Professor Adam Drewnowski from the University of Michigan in 1995 formed three groups of people based on their ability to recognize a compound close to FTC, but less toxic, in a solution. The same groups were tested for taste preferences. Those who sensed very small concentrations of the test substance found the coffee and saccharin too bitter. Regular sucrose (sugar that comes from cane and beets) seemed sweeter to them than to others. And the hot pepper burned much more strongly.
The question of the taste of fat remains controversial. For a long time It was believed that we recognize fat through our sense of smell, since lipids release odorous molecules and also due to a certain texture. Nobody even looked for special taste buds for fat. These ideas were shaken in 1997 by the research group of Toru Fushiki from Kyoto University. From the experiment it was known that the rat pups preferred the food bottle containing fats. To test whether this was due to consistency, Japanese biologists gave rodents without a sense of smell two solutions - one with lipids, and the other with a similar consistency, simulated thanks to a thickener. The rats unmistakably chose the solution with lipids - apparently guided by taste.
In fact, it turned out that the tongue of rodents can recognize the taste of fat using a special receptor - the glycoprotein CD36 (fatty acid transporter). French researchers led by Phillipe Benard have shown that when the gene encoding CD36 is blocked, the animal no longer shows a preference for fatty foods, and in gastrointestinal tract when fat gets on the tongue, there is no change in secretion. At the same time, the animals still preferred sweets and avoided bitter ones. This means that a specific receptor for fat was found.
But a person is not a rodent. The presence of the transport protein CD36 in our body has been proven. It transports fatty acids to the brain, heart, and is produced in the gastrointestinal tract. But is it on the tongue? Two laboratories, American and German, have tried to clarify this issue, but there are no publications yet. Studies in African Americans, who have a high diversity of the gene encoding the CD36 protein, seem to indicate that the ability to recognize fat in food is indeed associated with some modifications of a particular gene. It is hoped that once the question "can our tongues taste fat" is answered, doctors will have new options for treating obesity.
Gourmet animals?
In the 19th century, the famous French gastronome and author of the widely cited book “The Physiology of Taste,” Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, insisted that only homo sapiens experiences pleasure from food, which is actually needed simply to maintain life. Really, modern research showed that animals perceive taste differently than we do. But is the sense of taste so different between humans and other representatives of the primate order?
Experiments were carried out on 30 species of monkeys, which were given to taste pure water and solutions with different tastes and different concentrations: sweet, salty, sour, bitter. It turned out that their taste sensitivity greatly depends on who is trying what. Primates, like us, taste sweet, salty, sour and bitter. The monkey distinguishes the fructose of the fruit from the sucrose of the beet, as well as the tannins of the tree bark. But, for example, the Uistiti, a breed of monkey that eats leaves and greens, is more sensitive to alkaloids and quinine in tree bark than the fruit-eating primates of South America.
Together with American colleagues from the University of Wisconsin, French researchers also confirmed this with electrophysiological experiments and brought together the picture obtained on different types monkeys In electrophysiological experiments, the electrical activity of the fibers of one of the taste nerves was recorded, depending on what product the animal was eating. When electrical activity was observed, it meant that the animal was tasting the food.
How is it going for humans? To determine sensitivity thresholds, volunteers were blindly allowed to taste first very dilute and then increasingly concentrated solutions until they clearly formulated what the solution tasted like. The human “taste tree” is generally similar to those obtained for monkeys. In humans, taste sensations are also far apart in opposite directions from what brings energy to the body (sugar) and what can harm (alkaloids, tannin). There is also a correlation between substances of the same type. Someone who is very sensitive to sucrose has a chance of also being sensitive to fructose. But there is no correlation between sensitivity to quinine and tannin, and someone sensitive to fructose is not necessarily sensitive to tannin.
Since we and monkeys have such similar mechanisms of taste, does this mean that we are very close on the evolutionary tree? According to the most plausible version, by the end of the Paleozoic and the appearance of the first terrestrial creatures, the evolution of plants and animals proceeded in parallel. The plants had to somehow resist the active ultraviolet radiation young sun, so only those specimens that had enough polyphenols for protection were able to survive on land. These same compounds protected plants from herbivores because they were toxic and difficult to digest.
Vertebrates have evolved the ability to detect bitter or astringent tastes. It was these tastes that surrounded primates when they appeared in the Cenozoic era (Eocene), and then the first people. The emergence of plants with flowers that turned into fruits with sweet pulp played a large role in the evolution of taste. Primates and fruiting plants co-evolved: primates ate sweet fruits and dispersed their seeds, promoting the growth of trees and vines in tropical forests. But the ability to recognize the taste of salt (especially table salt) could hardly have arisen during coevolution with plants. Perhaps it came from aquatic vertebrates, and primates simply inherited it.
I wonder if primates, when choosing food, are guided only by nutritional value and taste? No, it turns out they can eat plants and therapeutic purpose. Michael Huffman of Kyoto University observed a chimpanzee with stomach problems in 1987 in western Tanzania. The monkey ate the stems of a bitter plant Vernonia amygdalina(vernonia), which chimpanzees do not usually eat. It turned out that the shoots of the tree contain substances that help against malaria, dysentery and schistosomiasis, and also have antibacterial properties. Observing the behavior of wild chimpanzees gave scientists food for thought: new herbal medicines were created.
In general, the taste has not changed much during evolution. Both primates and humans enjoy the taste of sweets - endorphins are produced in their bodies. Therefore, perhaps the great French culinary specialist was not entirely right - primates can also be gourmets.
Based on materials from the magazine
"La Recherche", No. 7-8, 2010
What kind of tastes do people have? What is the "5th taste"?
- Tactile sensations are a form of skin sensitivity caused by the work of two types of skin receptors: the nerve plexuses surrounding the hair follicles
- feel bad taste necessary in order to...
- It is believed that a person distinguishes either four or five elementary tastes: salty, sour, sweet, bitter and one more, for which there is no Russian name.
The fifth taste is called "umami" and is attributed to the taste of monosodium glutamate. However, it is sometimes called “sweet,” and food manufacturers believe that MSG simply enhances the sensation of other flavors. If you believe books about food, then it turns out that there are not five tastes, but many thousands, but culinary specialists do not mean elementary tastes, but combined ones. Recently, scientists have suspected that there are more than five of them.It turned out that the taste buds of rats react differently to different bitter substances. The bitter pathogen causes an increase in calcium concentration in the receptor cell, which prompts the cell to secrete a transmitter (a chemical transmitter of impulses between nerve cells) . To study this process, biologists A. Caicedo and S. Roper from the University of Miami (USA) introduced a fluorescent label into the taste cells of rat tongues that responds to an increase in calcium levels. They then exposed the cells to various bitter compounds. It turned out that 66 percent of bitter-sensitive cells responded to only one compound, 27 percent to two, and 7 percent to more than two compounds. This means that the taste buds that respond to different bitter substances are different, but we only have one name for “bitter.” Or it is possible that rats are simply better at understanding the bitter side of life than humans.
WHAT DOES TASTE CONSISTE OF?
Different substances can have a pure or mixed taste. The taste of all purely bitter substances is perceived by humans in exactly the same way. Thus, solutions of opium, strychnine, morphine, quinine may differ from one another in the intensity of the feeling of bitterness they cause, but not in its quality. If we equalize the intensity of the sensation by taking the listed solutions in different concentrations, then they become indistinguishable. The same applies to sour tastes. Solutions of hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric, phosphoric, formic, oxalic, tartaric, and malic acids, taken in appropriate dilutions, taste indistinguishable. In the study of sweet substances, it was also found that there are not several types of sweets. Certain substances may have a more or less pronounced sweet taste, but if this taste is purely sweet, then their solutions cannot be distinguished from one another. Glucose, fructose, lactose, and sucrose have a purely sweet taste. Regarding the salty taste, it has been proven that only one substance possesses it in a purely expressed form - salt. All other salty substances have a bitter or sour taste.After the substance has hit the tongue, first there is a sensation of touch (that is, a tactile feeling), and only then - taste sensations in the following order: at the tip of the tongue the salty taste appears first, followed by sweet, sour and lastly bitter; based on the tongue - first of all bitter, then salty and last of all sweet. These differences can also somehow affect the overall sensation of taste.
- Sour, bitter, sweet, salty, and all this together is incomprehensible.
- The 5th is a harmonious combination of those four, I guess
- http://www.fos.ru/filosofy/11858.html
http://www.krugosvet.ru/articles/105/1010554/1010554a1.htm
In humans, the sense of taste develops with the direct participation of the branches of the trigeminal nerve, providing a variety of perceived “flavors”. The concept of aroma is largely associated with the simultaneous perception of taste and smell. - The number of types of independent taste receptors is currently not precisely established. 4 “basic” tastes are the sociocultural archaism of European culture, 5 basic tastes are the cultures of the countries of Southeast Asia.
Its standard carrier is sodium chloride, table salt, especially the (Na+) ion. It is detected by ion channel receptors on the tongue, altering the action potential. The simultaneously perceived salty and sour tastes strongly interfere, making it difficult for us to understand which factor is stronger.
The sour taste is clearly associated with the pH value of the liquid. The mechanism of perception is similar to the perception of salty. Oxonium ions (mainly H3O+) arise during the dissociation of acids. Since the pH value of human saliva is close to neutral (pH = 7), the action of strong and medium-strength acids causes a sensation of pure sour taste. However, some weak organic acids and hydrolyzed ions (aluminum) can also cause astringency (astringent taste).
Sweetness is usually associated with the presence of sugars, but the same sensation occurs from glycerin, some proteins, and amino acids. One of the chemical carriers of “sweetness” are hydroxo groups in large organic molecules - sugars, as well as polyols - sorbitol, xylitol. Sweet detectors are G-proteins located in taste buds.
Bitterness, like sweetness, is perceived through G-proteins. Historically, bitter taste was associated with an unpleasant feeling, and perhaps with the danger of some plant products for good health. Indeed, most plant alkaloids are both toxic and bitter, and evolutionary biology has a basis for this conclusion.
Substances with a characteristic strong bitter taste: denatonium (Bitrex 4, synthesized in 1958), Phenylthiocarbamide (abbreviation PTC), Quinine"Fifth taste", traditionally used in Chinese culture, in other eastern countries. Umami (Japanese) is the name for the taste sensation produced by free amino acids, particularly glutamine, which can be found in fermented and aged foods, such as Parmesan and Roquefort cheeses, soy sauce and fish sauce. They are also contained in large quantities unfermented foods, e.g. walnuts, grapes, broccoli, tomatoes, mushrooms and, in smaller quantities, in meat.
A person studies the world around him, draws information from it thanks to the ability to see, hear, touch, and also smell and taste. If the function of one of the sense organs is impaired, the quality of life is significantly reduced. For example, delicious, fresh food brings pleasure and pleasure. It is very important that the ability to perceive taste is necessary for identifying the food consumed, assessing its quality, and helps a person eliminate the consumption of spoiled foods that are hazardous to health.
It often happens that this ability is impaired and a person ceases to feel the taste of food. This condition is called hypogeusia. Most often, this goes away quickly without additional medical intervention.
However, in some cases hypogeusia is a manifestation pathological processes in the body is a symptom of a serious disease. You can’t do this without the help of a doctor.
Let's talk on the www.site about the reasons for the loss of taste of food, the reasons, what to do, how hypogeusia is treated. Let's start our conversation with the most common reasons for this phenomenon:
Loss of taste - reasons
Most often, a change, disturbance, or loss of taste in the mouth occurs as a result of smoking tobacco, which dries out the tongue, affecting the taste buds. Very often the cause is alcoholism and drug use.
The intake of certain medicines, in particular, lithium preparations, penicillamine, rifampicin, as well as captopril, vinblastine, antithyroid drugs, etc.
Causes associated with pathological conditions:
Damage, changes in the tissues of the taste bud, as well as dysfunction of the receptor cells that make up the epithelium of the tongue (sensory disorders).
Pinching, injury to the nerve on which the identification of tastes depends. Paralysis facial nerve. This pathological condition characterized by increased salivation, loss, and taste disturbances.
Trauma to the skull, namely, a fracture of its base when damaged cranial nerve. In this case, partial agenesis (loss of taste) often occurs - a person loses the ability to distinguish most mixed tastes, except for simple ones: salty, sour, bitter, sweet.
Viral colds and infectious diseases.
Benign tumors oncological diseases oral cavity. These pathologies destroy taste buds.
Fungal diseases of the oral mucosa (thrush).
Sjögren's syndrome - serious genetic disease.
Acute form viral hepatitis.
Side effects from the procedure radiation therapy.
Lack of vitamins (minerals), especially zinc.
If there is a loss of taste, what to do about it?
Drug treatment
In case of persistent, long-term violation, you should consult a doctor who will prescribe an examination to determine the cause of the violation. If an underlying disease is detected, treatment will be carried out by an appropriate specialist. Once the root cause is eliminated, the taste will be restored.
For example, in the presence of an inflammatory or infectious disease, the patient is prescribed therapy using antibiotics: rhithromycin, caltopril or methicillin, etc.
In case of hypovitaminosis, the necessary preparations of vitamins and minerals are prescribed. For example, in case of zinc deficiency, it is recommended to take the drug Zincteral.
If loss of taste in food occurs while taking medicines, this medicine exchanged for something else from the same group. If this is not possible, the doctor will change the dosage and treatment regimen.
You can restore normal taste sensations with the help of drug treatment. For example, according to indications, the doctor may prescribe an artificial saliva substitute, or a drug that stimulates its production. To eliminate the disorder and additionally moisturize the oral cavity, the drug Hyposalix is often used.
Loss of taste - prevention
To avoid the development of hypogeusia, it is enough to follow simple rules:
Quit smoking, alcohol, drugs, drive healthy image life.
Eat properly, fortified foods without dyes, flavor enhancers, etc.
Do not eat food or drinks that are too hot or too cold.
Follow the rules of personal hygiene, in particular, when brushing your teeth every day, be sure to clean the surface of your tongue.
We talked about why loss of taste in food occurs, and what treatment helps with this. You also need to remember that any taste sensation is associated with various factors: psychological, emotional or physiological. Therefore in different periods a person can experience both pleasure from food and aversion to it. Under certain circumstances, we generally absorb food without feeling its taste. So these factors also need to be taken into account. Be healthy!
Incredible facts
Taste is not only one of the most pleasant, but also a rather complex sensation that science is only beginning to understand.
Here are a few amazing facts about your ability to taste.
Sensations of taste
1. Each of us different quantities taste buds
We have several thousand taste buds in our mouth, but this number varies from 2,000 to 10,000 in different people. Taste buds are located not only on the tongue, but also on the roof of the mouth and the walls of the mouth, throat and esophagus. As you age, your taste buds become less sensitive, which likely explains why foods you disliked as a child become palatable as an adult.
2. You taste with your brain.
When you bite into a piece of pie, your mouth feels like it's filled with flavor sensations. But most of these sensations originate in your brain.
Cranial nerves and taste buds send food molecules to the olfactory nerve endings in the nose. These molecules send signals to an area of the brain known as the primary taste cortex.
These messages, combined with odor messages, produce the sensation of taste.
Why do people taste the same taste differently?
Why
Loss of taste
3. You can't taste well if you can't smell.
Most of the sensations of taste are smells transmitted to the smell receptors in your brain. Inability to smell due to colds, smoking, some side effects medications can affect the smell receptors in the brain, making it difficult for you to taste.
4. Sweet foods make meals memorable.
A new study has found that centers associated with episodic memory in the brain are activated when we eat sweets. Episodic memory is a type of memory that helps you remember what you experienced at a certain time in a certain place. Episodic memory may help control eating behavior, for example, making decisions based on memories of what and when we eat.
5. Taste can be turned off
Scientists have learned to stimulate and silence neurons in the brain responsible for the basic taste sensations: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and umami. For example, in an experiment on mice, when they stimulated bitter taste, the mice winced.
6. You can change your taste sensations yourself
Taste buds are sensitive to certain compounds in foods and medications, which can alter your ability to perceive basic taste sensations.
For example, sodium lauryl sulfate in most toothpastes, it temporarily suppresses sweetness receptors, which is why orange juice, drunk immediately after brushing your teeth, will taste unsweetened lemon juice. Also, the compound cynarin in artichokes can temporarily block sweet receptors.
Taste perception
7. The smell of ham makes food taste salty.
There is an entire industry dedicated to making the food you buy in the store taste like. The phenomenon of “phantom aroma” causes us to associate foods with a certain taste. So, for example, adding the smell of ham to food will make your brain perceive it as saltier than it actually is, since we associate ham with salt. And by adding vanilla to food, you will perceive the product as sweeter.
8. We prefer spicy food while flying.
A noisy environment, such as when you're on an airplane, can change your sense of taste. The study showed that on an airplane, people's sweet receptors are suppressed and the receptors for the "fifth taste" - umami - are enhanced. For this reason, it is more common to order food with strong flavors on an airplane. German airline Lufthansa has confirmed that passengers order tomato juice as often as beer.
9. If you're a picky eater, you might be a "supertaster."
If you can't stand the taste of eggplant or are sensitive to even the slightest presence of onions in your food, you may be one of the 25 percent of people called "supertasters," who have more taste buds on their tongues, resulting in increased taste sensitivity.
The same taste can be perceived differently by each of us. Some people love lemon - it seems sweet, while others simply cannot stand the sour taste of citrus fruits.
AiF.ru explains what different taste preferences depend on and why people have certain eating habits.
How many senses of taste are there really?
Even in ancient times, scientists identified only four basic tastes - bitter, sour, sweet and salty. But in the early 1900s, a Japanese scientist identified another taste. Kikunae Ikeda identified glutamic acid as the fifth taste. He called it umami, which means “pleasant spicy taste.” A person feels this taste if salts of certain organic acids are present in food. Typically these are monosodium glutamate, sodium inosinate and sodium guanylate. These substances are found in foods such as Parmesan cheese, beef, chicken, pork, mushrooms, seafood and seaweed. Some vegetables also have umami flavor: tomatoes, asparagus, cabbage and carrots.
Certain receptors located on the tongue help a person recognize taste sensations. The tongue as a whole can be divided into several areas - the back part is responsible for the perception of bitter taste, the side part of the tongue is responsible for sour taste, the front part is responsible for salty taste, and the tip for its sweet taste. Scientists say that the back part should be responsible for the fifth taste, umami.
Taste buds. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Why do we prefer a certain taste?
Sweet
Many people prefer sweet foods during periods of depression and intense mental work. Nervous and mental stress lead to faster consumption of sugar, which is why you want to eat something sweet to replenish your glucose reserves. Also, thanks to sweets, happiness hormones are formed in the body - serotonin and endorphin.
Gorkoe
Attitudes towards bitter taste may vary. The same taste may seem unbearably bitter to some, but to others it may not matter at all. But if you always want something bitter, then you have recently suffered or have not completed treatment for an illness, and craving for bitter food is a sign of residual intoxication of the body.
Salty
Scientists have found that those who crave salty foods lack certain minerals in their bodies. Such a desire may indicate severe stress that you are experiencing: due to stressful everyday life and fatigue, the body is in especially dire need of natural minerals and salts. This taste also attracts people when they are dehydrated.
Sour
One of the reasons for an addiction to sour foods is a lack of vitamin C. Therefore, a sudden desire to eat something sour can serve as a signal of an upcoming cold. The desire to taste sour foods may also indicate low stomach acidity.
Umami
Foods with umami flavor are attractive to the taste buds and can even become addictive in some people. This property of the fifth taste is used by fast food manufacturers. There is also an opinion that umami is perhaps the first taste that a person recognizes. Salts of organic acids are present in breast milk in sufficient quantities.
Why do different people perceive the same taste differently?
Different people can perceive the same taste differently. This depends on several factors.
Different number of receptors
People have different numbers of taste buds. Those who have more of them feel the taste of food more intensely. Professional wine or tea tasters, for example, have twice as many such receptors as the average person.
Aversion to a certain taste at the subconscious level
The perception of a certain taste depends on personal experience. If a person has ever been poisoned by fish, there is a chance that even the sight and smell of it will be unpleasant to him. The body will remind you that anything associated with this taste is potentially inedible.
Individual characteristics
Many people cannot eat certain foods. For some, for example, milk is tasty and useful product, and for some it is taboo. The body of such people does not produce lactase, which is necessary to break down milk sugar. Also, a person’s taste sensations largely depend on the feeling of hunger - to a hungry person, tasteless food always seems tastier.
Impaired sense of smell
In addition to taste, our sense of smell also affects our sensations. At severe runny nose any dish, even the most favorite one, seems tasteless. How important the sense of smell is in the perception of taste can be understood by pinching your nose. The coffee will simply become bitter.
Diseases of internal organs
Some diseases can affect the sense of taste. For example, a feeling of bitterness in the mouth can be caused by cholelithiasis, diseases of the liver and biliary system, and the use of certain medications: antihistamines, antibiotics, St. John's wort, sea buckthorn oil.
Pregnancy
A sharp change in tastes can cause pregnancy. In this state, it is not surprising that a passionate fan of pickles can turn into a notorious sweet tooth, and a lover of chocolates, ice cream and jam suddenly wants to eat everything salty and spicy.
Genes
Sometimes it seems to us that we eat what our parents taught us to eat. But scientists are increasingly inclined to believe that genes make the choice for us. The gene responsible for bitter taste was first discovered only in 2003. It turned out that it encodes a receptor protein for taste cells. Therefore, different people perceive bitterness to varying degrees.
Cultural traditions
Taste habits are formed among residents different countries differently. For example, some insects and grasshoppers in Africa and Asia are tasty and nutritious food, but European people find them disgusting.
Urgent problems of the body
Sudden taste preferences indicate the urgent needs of the body. Cravings for salty foods are often caused by a lack of sodium; usually you crave such food after visiting the gym. If a person suddenly starts to lean on black bread, this may mean that he lacks B vitamins, and meat lacks iron. If a person eats a lot butter- vitamin A, if you reach for seaweed - iodine. If you dream about bananas, it means your body needs magnesium.
