What is Taste?
Taste is our gustatory sense, it allows us to experience flavours, and is strongly linked to our sense of smell.
Some of the types of taste we experience are, sweet, bitter, umami, sour and salty.
We use taste primarily in eating but there's far more to eating than just taste! Foods have texture, temperature, spice, harness, and different consistencies. For this reason, eating involves almost all the senses.
What does under-sensitivity look like?
If you're oversensitive to it you might:
- find bland foods very tasteless
- love strong tasting foods, spices, herbs, and sugary treats
- seek out foods and objects with strong smells and tastes
What helps?
- having access to foods with strong tastes
- being careful not to consume too much sugar and salt
- nutritional supplements if diet is not varied enough
- a healthy varied diet or diet plan
What does over-sensitivity look like?
If you're oversensitive to it you might:
- dislike strong tasting foods
- dislike spices and herbs
- prefer bland, flavourless, and beige foods
- avoid foods with strong smells
- be adverse to trying new foods
- feel nauseous due to tastes
What helps?
- having access to foods that don't taste too strong
- a consistent diet as changes may cause high anxiety
- having choice over what you eat
- nutritional supplements if diet is not varied enough
- a healthy varied diet or diet plan