Some people say that for medicines that are difficult to swallow, it will not be bitter if you pinch your nose and take them. If you try it, you will be surprised to find that it is really effective.
In fact, the taste can not only be "tasted", but also "sniffed"! Just like... snail noodles ～
01 Taste can only let us taste 5 flavors
Taste, which is a feeling caused by direct chemical stimulation.
Feeling the taste sensation depends on the taste buds covered with the mucosa surface of our tongue, mouth and pharyngeal. On average, an adult has 2,000 to 4,000 taste buds, and the taste buds update themselves every week.
When we eat, through chewing and stirring of tongue and saliva, the taste buds are stimulated. The taste hair recognizes the taste of the food and transmits the felt information from the taste nerve to the taste center of the brain, which produces taste and tastes the food.
Image source: wiki.com
If there is no sense of smell but only taste, we can only taste the same sweet, bitter, salty and umami flavor.
02 Taste recognition through smell
Humans can distinguish and remember 10,000 different odors. This is due to a small area of the mucosa inside our nose, the olfactory epithelium, which contains functionalized nerve cells, the olfactory receptor. These receptors have hairy protrusions, or cilia, that are used to detect odors.
Image source: Merck Diagnosis and Treatment Manual
Interestingly, there are two ways we smell the scent. One is the front nose pathway (Orthonasal olfaction), which means detecting the outside smell through the nasal cavity, such as the fragrance of magnolia at home, the perfume smell sprayed by beauty lovers, the aroma of food wafting out of the restaurant, etc.
Another type is the retronasal pathway (Retronasal olfaction), which detects the odor in the mouth and pharynx.
people identify many food flavors through the posterior nasal pathway.
Image source: mdpi.com
When the smell comes from the back of the nose, we mix taste and smell together, and mistakenly think of the effect of taste. Imagine the flavor formed by the sour taste and unique aroma of lemons is actually the result of the blending of smell and taste.
If you pinch your nose and eat snail noodles, the taste of sour bamboo shoots will be much weaker!
So, if you pinch your nose and take medicine that is difficult to swallow, you will feel that the bitter taste will weaken. Despite this, it is not recommended to pinch your nose and take medicine to reduce the smell of medicine, especially children should not do this (because pinching your child's nose and filling it with medicine can easily lead to the drug being inhaled into the trachea and causing suffocation).
03 The following factors will also affect the identification of smell
Age
As people age, especially for people over 60 years old, the sensitivity of smell will begin to decline, which includes the decrease in the number of olfactory receptors in the posterior nasal cavity and the decrease in the regeneration rate of receptors cells.
At the same time, the taste buds will become fewer, and the remaining taste buds are not so sharp.
Certain diseases
Anything that stimulates the inner layer of the nose and makes it feel stuffy, runny, itchy or runny will affect our sense of smell.
This includes common cold, sinus infection, allergies, sneezing, nasal congestion, flu and coronavirus infection (about 5% of people have olfactory dysfunction after COVID-19 ). Because edema caused by these diseases can hinder the airflow of the nasal airway and hinder the movement of the odor towards the olfactory epithelium.
Loss of smell may be an early warning signal for dementia, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease .
Other diseases, including Diabetes , Huntington's disease, Kleinfelt syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Paget's bone disease and Sjogren's syndrome, can also damage the nerves leading to the olfactory center of the brain.
If you cannot taste the smell or smell it for a long time, it is recommended to go to the hospital for examination as soon as possible to rule out these diseases.
medications
Some prescription and over-the-counter medications will change your sense of smell or taste, especially antibiotics and antihypertensive drugs.
Some vitamin deficiency
Loss of taste and smell may be a way for the body to tell you that there is a low level of vitamins.Certain conditions and medications may cause you, your body is deficient in vitamins related to smell and taste, such as vitamins A, B6, B12, etc.
edit / Sun Chaohui
source / Popular science Chinese
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