HEALTHY EATING
What we view as the sense of taste is actually a combination of smell, taste, and texture, with smell playing a major role. A single taste bud can have dozens of receptor cells that send signals of sour, sweet, salty, and bitter through nerve channels to the brain.
The tongue is covered with taste buds, and the back of the mouth is sensitive to bitter tastes-perhaps as a last-ditch chance to expel something toxic. Taste also plays a role in digestion, preparing the stomach for a meal.
But one of the most interesting things about taste, according to University of Virginia neuroscientist David Hill, is that taste cells regenerate, or turn over, about every 10 days, much like skin cells.
Burn your tongue? No worries; those cells will regrow and you’ll regain your normal sense of taste within days.
© American Institute for Preventive Medicine