Our Loose Blogging consortium includes Anu, Ashok, Conrad, Gaelikaa, Ginger, Judy, Magpie 11, Maria, Ramana and yours truly. At one point all of us produced a piece on the topic for the week – at the chosen time. Recently the call of work, study or family concerns, have prevented some members from turning their thoughts to the topic for that day, This weeks offering was chosen by Ramana.

Modern Myths

The mists of time tend to blur the edges of what we have learned, so modern myths are born and believed.

There are many life science books that contain a drawing of a tongue with different regions marked, sweet, bitter, sour, and salty.  This myth started as a misinterpretation of research reported in the late 1800’s.
Many scientists do not believe in the ‘tongue map’ (like in the picture below).  They say that you can taste sweet, sour, bitter or salt at any place on the tongue.

Any of the tastes can be detected by any of the regions.  The actual organ of taste is called the “taste bud.”  There are approximately 10,000 taste buds in a human tongue when you are born..
Animals can even have more.

You need your tongue to taste food. Agreed.  But you also use it to chew, swallow, talk, sing and kiss.  We might think of the tongue as one muscle, but it is actually a group of muscles. These muscles run in different directions to carry out all the tongue’s jobs.  The front part of the tongue is very flexible and working with the teeth it helps create  different types of words.  It also helps you eat by helping to move food around your mouth while you chew. The tongue pushes the food to your back teeth so the teeth can grind it up.

The nose lets us smell and it’s a big part of why we are able to taste things.  Thus when you have a cold we lose the sense of taste.

Did you know…. .

• That cats can not taste sweet things.
• That flies taste with their paws.
• That snakes smell with their tongue.

Did you know that:

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, tasted or even touched. They must be felt with the heart.”

That is no myth, modern or otherwise, it is FACT!