Taste Sensitivity of Elderly People Is Associated with Quality of Life and Inadequate Dietary Intake.

ABSTRACT: Aging has been implicated in the alteration of taste acuity. Diet can affect taste sensitivity. We aimed to investigate the types of tastes altered in elderly Korean people and factors associated with taste alteration in relation to dietary intake and other factors. Elderly participants (≥65 years) and young adults were assessed to determine their recognition thresholds (RT) for sweet, salty, bitter, sour, and umami tastes. Elderly participants were further surveyed for dietary intake and non-nutritional factors. Five taste RTs were correlated with age, but only four taste RTs, except sweetness, differed between the elderly participants and young adults. Inadequate intake of iron, thiamin, folic acid, zinc, and phosphorus among the elderly participants was related to elevated taste RT leve

SUBMITTER: Jeon S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8155931 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature