Why does plugging your nose, make you unable to taste?

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Someone told me about it and it actually works, but I thought you taste by your taste buds?

In: Biology

2 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A major component of what you taste is actually a result of smell. Your taste buds are fairly limited in the nuance of what they can taste. Your brain combines information from the tongue with information from what you smell to create the final “taste.” If you eliminate or restrict your ability to smell, you are left with only the information provided by your taste buds.

That’s only going to be some pretty basic tastes like sweet, sour, salty, etc. If you eat something covered in a lot of salt, you should be able to taste that saltiness even with your nose closed. Finer distinctions in taste will be lost, though, because those are actually a result of what you smell.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Taste and smell are processed in virtually the same region of your brain. You often lose your sense of taste when you’re congested with a cold as well because of that.

Edit: I am rusty on my anatomy so this may not be 100% correct, but that is the gist of it