5 simple exercises to boost your sense of taste
What's the story
The tongue is an essential organ that helps us eat, speak, and most importantly, taste.
The ability to taste bitterness is key to our overall flavor perception.
By training your tongue to become more sensitive, you can enhance your tasting ability.
This article shares five easy exercises to boost your sense of taste.
Stretch
Tongue stretching for flexibility
First, stick your tongue out as far as it can go.
Then, try to touch your nose and then your chin with the tip, holding each position for five seconds.
Do this exercise 10 times a day to increase flexibility and promote blood flow.
This simple routine can reportedly heighten the sensitivity of your taste buds by boosting circulation.
Push-ups
Strengthening with tongue push-ups
Just like push-ups are good for arm muscles, tongue push-ups are good for your tongue muscles.
Place a clean spoon on your tongue and push it up against the roof of your mouth as hard as you can without hurting yourself.
Hold for 10 seconds, then release.
Doing 10 reps once a day can help strengthen the muscles around circumvallate papillae.
Target
Improving precision with target practice
To increase taste sensitivity indirectly, improving your tongue's dexterity and precision is crucial.
Open your mouth as wide as you can and try to reach eight specific points on your lips and cheeks with your tongue.
Do this in three sets every day.
These exercises enhance muscle control and flexibility around the circumvallate papillae, allowing taste buds to be more exposed to different flavors.
Temperature
Enhancing sensitivity through temperature training
Switching between hot and cold temperatures excites nerve endings on the tongue, which might increase sensitivity over time.
Simply swish a mouthful of warm (not hot) water around your mouth for thirty seconds, then do the same with cold water for another thirty seconds.
Do this three times in a row, twice a day to get your taste buds used to the temperature changes.
Massage
Massage therapy for circumvallate papillae
Massaging the area around the circumvallate papillae can stimulate blood flow and potentially enhance their function over time.
With a clean finger, use light pressure and circular motions to massage the back area of the tongue where the circumvallate papillae are located.
Be mindful not to induce a gag reflex.
Two minutes a day is enough.