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Changing Tastes and Smells in Retirement

Sometimes, it is hell growing older. You work hard all your life and look forward to retirement and some of your five senses could wreak havoc on you and take away some of life's pleasures like tasting and smelling some of your favorite foods. Typically both taste and smell work in tandem for a variety of body functions with the most important role being the enjoyment of food.

When you age, your senses naturally diminish somewhat. However, there are a lot of scientific reports that state that your taste and smell can also be affected by a number of medications, diseases and illnesses as well. That means, if you are experiencing any taste or smelling problems, you just might be able to reverse the trend.

Changes in your Sense of Taste

You have a number of receptor cells within the taste buds on your tongue along with special nerves which take the message of those receptor cells to your brain to let it know about the flavor of food. These receptor cells within the taste buds recognize about 10,000 various flavors. And about every ten days, your taste buds replace these receptor cells with new ones.

When your taste diminishes as you get older, you need sweeter and sweeter foods in order to recognize the flavors and just minute amounts of sour flavors in order to recognize those. Some experts feel that less saliva production contributes to this loss of taste; however, this does not happen with everyone. Therefore, there have been other factors that have been identified that could effectively contribute to loss of taste. These factors are:

* Poor diet

* Dental health such as tooth decay or sores in the mouth

* Drug regiments for such illnesses as cancer or hormone replacement

Good dental hygiene throughout life can thwart a variety of illnesses and can help prevent a loss of taste. A loss of taste could have a domino effect on your health causing poor nutrition and appetite. By taking care of one problem, you could effectively prevent another.

Changes in your Sense of Smell

The sense of smell does not always work in mysterious ways. Your nose has special receptors which can detect and distinguish certain odors and aromas like food. The molecules present in food are breathed in and captured by these receptor cells which then send messages to the brain to help identify what you smell.

Just growing older can affect your sense of smell. However, with proper health care you can drastically cut the probability of losing your sense of smell. Here are some factors which you could work on to prevent the loss from happening:

* Get a handle on neurological diseases as well as those that affect the nose and nasal passages.

* Keep on top of your allergies and sinus problems by preventing frequent nasal congestion.

* Research your medications and medical treatments to see if the side effects include loss of smell.

If you find that your sense of smell is affecting your sense of taste, look to the medical community for answers. With luck, it could be a simple matter of changing medications or some environmental element in your home. It's no fun not being able to enjoy your food during your retirement years!