Do taste buds and digestion change as we age?

travers · Newbie Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 20

Hi, I feel like my senses are losing their sharpness with years. My taste sense is not so precise as earlier, and I have digestion problems. Is it connected with aging or is it just my imagination?

klapp · Newbie Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 20

Actually, it can be aging related. The sense of taste starts diminishes at about 50 years. These senses very slight change over the next 20 years of a person’s life. Normally, a person has 245 taste buds on each of the tiny bumps on the tongue. At 70, the number of taste buds reduces to around 88. The process of food absorption is not disturbed with aging, it’s only basal metabolism that is slowed down with years. Conclusion would be that elders need less food than when they were younger. The older stomach produces less hydrochloric acid, needed to digest food. Weak digestion can result by poor fitting dentures and less mouth saliva because of harder chewing.

Do taste buds and digestion change as we age?

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