Why does food taste differently when you have a blocked nose or a cold?

Question

i was just wondering... whenever i have a cold or a blocked nose i cant seem to taste anything or the food tastes different to what it usually tastes like. do you no why??

Answer 1

Because the tongue actually doesn't taste that much. It only has receptors that are capable of detecting salty, sweet, sour and bitter sensations. Most of what we consider taste is actually smell. The human nose is actually able to detect and distinguish between thousands of different scents, which we combine with the receptors in our mouth to create what we identify as something's taste. If you subtract the smell, or interfere with the majority of the reception, then most of what you are left with depends on the combination of the four taste receptors on the tongue. All this means decreased taste as far as we are concerned. You still actually have all the taste you ever had, you just don't have the smell to go with it.

Answer 2

Your sense of taste is also interlinked to your sense of smell. With a blocked nose, your sense of smell is disabled, thus your sense of taste is impaired. Whenever you are going to try something new to taste/eat, ever notice you smell it before you eat it?

Answer 3

1. u smell food along with tasting it while u are healthy .. but u lose the ability to smell when u are sick ...
2. the tongue sometime goes numb when you are running a high temperature...

Answer 4

you actually taste with your nose...I know it sounds dumb but you taste 40% of food with your nose..60% with your mouth/togue. Why do you think wine tasters always sniff the wine when they drink it.......