Real Girls: How often do you grow new taste buds?


	September 8, 2024

Original photo by Ara Barradas/ iStock

Taste buds are replaced every two weeks.

The human body is an amazing powerhouse fueled by important organs like the heart, lungs, and brain. However, some of its most vital work is done by a body part you might not expect — our taste buds, a set of microscopic organs that do more than help us savor our food. Scientists believe human taste buds also have a bigger purpose: protecting us from poisoning. These microscopic sensors tell our brains that food is safe to eat based on flavor, encouraging us to consume sweets (potential sources of calories and energy) and alerting us to spit out bitter or unpalatable substances that could make us sick.

Taste buds are such hardworking organs that their cells die off quickly. As they work, they age and lose sensitivity, which is why the body regenerates them about every two weeks. However, taste buds aren't all replaced at once; on any given day, about 10% of the sensors expire, while 20% to 30% are in the process of developing, leaving us with 60% of the buds active to analyze the food we consume.

Want to examine your taste buds? Contrary to popular belief, it's not as easy as sticking out your tongue. That's because the visible bumps aren't sensors themselves; instead what you see are the papillae, which cover the taste buds. Each papillae can house hundreds of taste sensors, with the average adult having between 2,000 and 10,000 — a number that generally decreases with age. However, there's one upside to losing some taste sensitivity as we get older: Foods we once avoided in childhood, like Brussels sprouts, become a bit more palatable.

You might like (or dislike) foods based on your genes.

FACT

FIB

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Catfish have taste buds on their __.

REVEAL ANSWER

		Numbers Don't Lie

Percentage of Americans who are supertasters, aka people with elevated taste bud sensitivity

25%

Year umami flavor was "discovered" by Japanese chemist Kikunae Ikeda

1908

Reduction in taste bud sensitivity to sweet and salty foods when on a flight

30%

Average age when taste buds become less sensitive, causing some taste loss

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Taste buds aren't just on your tongue.

It makes sense that taste buds are generally found in our mouths; after all, they help encourage us to eat and can sense potential poisons. However, researchers have found that taste buds don't just exist on our tongues — they can be found all over the body in unexpected places. Taste buds can be found in our stomachs, and in 2007, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine discovered sweet-sensing taste buds inside the intestines. It's believed that those sensors monitor glucose and help the body control blood sugar. Taste buds also exist in the muscled walls of our lungs, where they work to protect breathing; upon sensing a bitter substance, the taste buds tell the body's airway to open, a breakthrough some researchers say could be used to develop more effective asthma medications.

Today's edition of Interesting Facts was written by Nicole Garner Meeker and edited by Bess Lovejoy.