Smokers and Their Taste Buds: Not as Many

Many ex-smokers notice how different food and drinks taste after they’ve quit smoking. It used to be thought that smoking just kind of dulled the taste buds, but research has found that smokers actually do have fewer and flatter taste buds than do non-smokers. The research was published in the most recent issue of the online journal, BMC Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders.

Researchers in Greece tested both smokers and non-smokers, using electrical stimulation to cause a metallic taste. They found that the smokers didn’t taste nearly as well as the non-smokers.

To follow up, the taste buds of both groups were examined by endoscope and the tongues of the smokers were flatter and had less blood supply – also affecting the ability to taste.

What are tastebuds?

Taste buds are many of the raised “bumps” along the top of your tongue. They are able to sense if something is  salty, bitter, sweet, or sour. Adults have an average of about 10,000 taste buds on their tongue.

Like your skin, your body sheds its taste buds as well. On average, you keep a taste bud for about 2 weeks and then it sloughs off, to be replaced by another. However, some things may affect the regrowth of the taste buds, including age. Many older people don’t taste foods as they did when they were younger. Smoking also has this effect.

So, yet another reason to quit smoking?

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