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Do your taste buds change as you age?
Does age affect taste?
When do taste buds stop growing back?
What causes a change in taste bud?
How often do taste buds regenerate?
Mar 22, 2017 · Q: Do your taste buds change as you age, and if so, why? A: It is not uncommon for our sense of taste to change, or diminish, with time. This is due to many factors. As we age, the number of taste buds that we have decreases. This usually begins to occur in our 40s if we’re female or in our 50s if we’re male. Advertisement.
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Find out why your sense of taste and smell may change as you get older and know when to call an otolaryngologist for help.
- Overview
- Causes of taste bud changes
- How often do they change?
- What about a sudden change?
- How to repair damaged taste buds
- When to see a doctor
- The bottom line
Human beings are born with around 10,000 taste buds, most of which are located directly on the tongue. These taste buds help us enjoy the five primary tastes:
•sweet
•sour
•salty
•bitter
•umami
Our taste buds are responsible for helping us enjoy the many flavors the world has to offer. When our taste buds encounter food and other substances, the taste cells inside send messages to the brain that help us make sense of what we are tasting. These taste cells work in conjunction with chemical and physical senses to produce what we know as “flavor.”
Changes in our taste buds can greatly affect the way we perceive flavor. Foods can become bland and lack flavor. Your perception of flavor, especially via your taste buds, can be impaired by a variety of factors, from infections to medications, and more.
Outside of illness, aging, or other causes, taste perception is generally constant. However, adult taste bud regeneration occurs frequently both on a cellular level and a functional level.
According to animal research from 2006, our taste buds themselves turnover every 10 days, while further research from 2010 suggests that approximately 10 percent of the cells inside these taste buds turnover each day.
A sudden change in your taste buds or a sudden loss of taste can indicate an underlying medical condition. Some medical conditions that can cause a sudden change in your perception of taste include:
•common cold
•sinus infection
•ear infection
•ear injury
•throat infection
When damaged taste buds are caused by an underlying medical condition, they can be repaired by treating the underlying condition. Bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics, while viral infections can be managed with plenty of rest at home.
For more serious conditions, such as those that cause long-term nerve damage, treatment may not necessarily restore the function of the taste buds. Ultimately, recovery depends on the extent of the nerve damage and the body’s ability to repair it.
If you have a sudden loss of taste that accompanies symptoms of more serious conditions, such as a head injury, mouth injury, stroke, or other nervous system condition, it’s time to visit a doctor. They can assess your medical history and if necessary, run further diagnostic tests to determine the underlying cause.
Taste bud changes can occur naturally as we age or may be caused by an underlying medical condition. Viral and bacterial illnesses of the upper respiratory system are a common cause of loss of taste. In addition, many commonly prescribed medications can also lead to a change in the function of the taste buds. In some cases, a more serious underlying condition may be causing a change in the perception of taste.
If you have been experiencing a change in your taste buds that you can’t explain or that won’t go away, schedule a visit with your doctor for further testing.
May 2, 2023 · Learn why you often start to lose your sense of taste starting around age 40 or 50, how this affects your health and what you can do to stay healthy and fed.
May 5, 2017 · You're born with roughly 9,000 taste buds, and they're very good at regenerating — which is why you can recover the ability to taste just days after burning your tongue. But that changes as we...
Mar 22, 2023 · That’s when the roughly 10,000 taste buds we are born with begin to stop growing back. These taste receptors are titans of cellular turnover, dying off and regrowing about once every 10 days. Starting in our 40s and 50s, however, they simply don’t regenerate at the same frequency.
Nov 2, 2022 · An otolaryngologist explains how taste buds change as you age and when you may start to notice that food tastes different.
