From Fever to Flavor Loss: Understanding Changes in Taste
Have you realized how the most delicious dish becomes tasteless all of a sudden during the times when you get sick and catch a fever? No matter what delicious dishes you try, they become tasteless because of your fever. What is the reason for it?
First, the reason is the changes in the physiological processes in your organism caused by illnesses. The inflammation processes in your body can interfere with the work of taste receptors, and the decreased sense of smell caused by congestion can influence the perception of taste too. At that time, dehydration, low secretion of saliva, and taking some medications may interfere with the process too.
However, it is a temporary phenomenon that will pass away as soon as the disease disappears. This situation shows us how important it is the fact that the taste is not determined only by the tongue but is the result of complex interactions between senses, the immune system, and the brain.
If even such a small thing as the flu can affect your sense of taste, then how many other sensations can be influenced?
MBH/PS