Rejuvination Of Taste Buds - Can Anything Help?

[Lopburi99]

Is anybody aware of ways which our tasting capabilities can be improved? Like with certain hygiene, foods, or health products? Or maybe some toothpastes or mouthwashes, like Listerine, may be harming our taste buds in our tongues and should be avoided?

I'm adding more and more salt to my meals now. And while in the states, where I eat nothing spicy, my favorite fruits like raspberries, peaches and pears, tasted just so-so, nothing near like in the past.

Actually I'm surprised product advertising doesn't target this more with supposed "taste enhancing" benefits, since nobody in the world wants to experience decreasing tasting ability. A huge market to be sure.

Is there anything which we can be doing to enjoy better tasting meals?

[krading]

These days nothing tastes like it used to, especially fruit and vegies. Grown out of season, gassed to make them ripen, stored for months and tasting of chemicals. Grow your own.

[Lopburi99]

These days nothing tastes like it used to, especially fruit and vegies. Grown out of season, gassed to make them ripen, stored for months and tasting of chemicals. Grow your own.

Yep, I intend to do just that. We've bought some land (1/2 rai) near Sa Kaew and just had 60 loads of dirt dumped on it in preparation for a home we will build in a year or two. In the meanwhile we'll be enjoying the land by planting flowers, fruits and vegetables on part of it. I specified dirt which was rich for growing and I hope that is what was delivered, rather than filler crap.

Back to topic, I know certain medications mess with our tasting too. Whenever I take an anti-acid before going to bed the next day my tasting is particularly shot.

Edited July 19, 2009 by Lopburi99

[wasabi]

MSG will bring back the flavor you crave.

[IMA_FARANG]

Is anybody aware of ways which our tasting capabilities can be improved? Like with certain hygiene, foods, or health products? Or maybe some toothpastes or mouthwashes, like Listerine, may be harming our taste buds in our tongues and should be avoided?

I'm adding more and more salt to my meals now. And while in the states, where I eat nothing spicy, my favorite fruits like raspberries, peaches and pears, tasted just so-so, nothing near like in the past.

Actually I'm surprised product advertising doesn't target this more with supposed "taste enhancing" benefits, since nobody in the world wants to experience decreasing tasting ability. A huge market to be sure.

Is there anything which we can be doing to enjoy better tasting meals?

The bad news...your tastebuds change as you get older. Children have far more "sweet" receptors. That's one of the reasons they like sweet and sugared foods. As you get older you lose those "sweet" receptors. That's why adults perfer less sweet drinks. There isn't much you can do about that. That also is why you "remember" that good tasting strawberry you took right from the garden when you were young.

But your right about fruits and vegatables. Most of those now sold in stores in the U.S. are picked before they are ripe. Then they are "ripened" by a gas mixture that carrys a dye with it. The gas/dye combination makes the fruit appear to be ripe, softening the fruit, and the dye colors the skin so the fruit looks redder, yellow, etc. to make it seem "ripe". The reason this is done is that mechanical pickers are used, and if the fruit is too ripe the growers lose to much fruit to picking damage. So the fruit is picked earlier, and artificially aged.

Have you ever seen Plums with a deep blue skin (from the dye). Take the skin off carefully and you may see a thin layer of blue dye inside on the Plum fruit. It's from the blue dye that penetrated the skin.

And the fruit tastes like crap. (My personal opinion).

Edited July 19, 2009 by IMA_FARANG

[FBN]

Remember taste is a combination of smell and taste.

Smoking will also affect your taste.

Ageing will affect both.

Not much we can do about that but try and steer clear of too much salt and of course MSG!