You Are Born With About 10,000 Taste Buds

Taste starts with taste cells, which are clustered within the taste buds of the tongue and the roof of the mouth, and along the lining of the throat. The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, states that at birth you have about 10,000 taste buds, but after age 50 you may start to lose them. Taste cells are unusual. Along with the sensory cells that help you smell, they are the only sensory cells in the human body that are regularly replaced throughout life. They respond to at least five basic taste qualities: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami, or savory. Taste alone is not flavor, though. The institute notes that most people who think they have a taste disorder actually have a problem with smell.