Page 158 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

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The Changing of the Guard in the Taste Cells
As you know, every piece of apparatus has a finite working life. The

harder and heavier the conditions under which a device operates, the
shorter its lifespan will be. The same applies to the taste cells in the
tongue. Every day, they come into contact with foodstuffs considerably
above or below body temperature, and with acidic foods, which present
them with difficult, even extreme conditions. For example, a hot cup of
tea, an iced fruit juice, strong coffee or bitter grapefruit juice all wears
them down to a degree. One would naturally expect the taste cells to
gradually lose their perception capabilities and for the sense of taste to be
lost. Yet such a thing does not happen. Why, then, does your sense of taste
not fade and die?
The reason is the taste cells’ renewal mechanism. On average, they
change every 10 days. 144 In other words, the taste cells you have now are
entirely different from those you had 10 days ago. Basal cells in the taste
bud mature and replace the old cells within a few hours. (Figure 33) These

processes, of which you
are utterly unaware, take
Taste bud Taste micro-hairs
place so quickly that the
taste cells you use at din-
ner are different from
Taste recep-
tor cell those you had at break-
fast. 145 Thanks to this
Support
cell
(Figure 33)
Basal cell
The position of basal
cells in the taste bud,
where new taste cells
Synapses
Nerve develop

The Miracles of Smell and
Taste