When your're taking a bite of a big, juicy burger or sipping on a milkshake, you know one thing... It tastes good, right? Did you ever think about why that is?
Your tongue and the roof of your mouth are covered in thousands of these tiny little buds. When you eat, your saliva helps break down food. Your taste buds send little messages to your brain which tell you all kinds of information like whether or not the food tastes good, if it's hot, cold, sweet, sour, etc.
Taste buds are most important because they play the biggest part in how we enjoy different foods and flavors. As a child, you would have been more sensitive to different foods because your taste buds were not only on your tongue, but on the roof and the sides of your mouth. As an adult, you may notice that certain foods you were unable to eat as a child taste better. This is because your taste buds are more centered to your tongue area and are now less sensitive.
Here are some tidbits of information about your taste buds:
-Buds that taste bitterness are located at the back of the tongue. Sour taste buds are located on either side of the tongue, with salty/sweet buds on the tip. The center of the tongue does not have many taste buds. There is research that disputes this theory. Some believe that there are no "zones" in your mouth for sensing specific tastes. Who knows? Things (and theories) are always changing!
- The five taste categories are salty, bitter, sweet, sour and umami (savory).
- If you get fat, so does your tongue! This is believed to be a contributing factor in Sleep Apnea.
- Taste buds are not visible to the naked eye.
-Taste is the weakest of the 5 senses.
- Girls have more taste buds than boys.
-We have approximately 2000-4000 taste buds inside our mouths.
Taste on, and Keep Smiling!
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