Senses: The Foundation of the Senior Dining Experience
Jim Bain, Regional Director of Dinning Services at Watermark Communities
On the day we are born, our senses awaken as we enter a brand-new world. A world of tastes, smells, vision, sounds, and touch. As we grow, those senses are heightened by new experiences and memories. Think about your family cooking together, enjoying the aromas from the kitchen. Meat roasting or sauce simmering while bantering about the news, funny stories, gossiping, and finally sitting down to enjoy that family meal. Eating with loved ones can also be an educational experience. Why does Pop-Pop shake so much, Gram chews her food, and then puts it back on her plate? When we are young, we don't think about the effects of aging, but as we age, we come to understand it as a way of life. There is no one-size-fits-all with the difficulties of aging, but understanding the five senses allows us to make a better mealtime for someone who may regain their interest in eating.
The Sense of Touch
Touch can be crucial in eating. When you cut a piece of meat, if the knife has resistance or you can't cut it, one immediately thinks the meat will be tough and can't be chewed. This could turn you off and ruin your appetite. Weakened muscles play a part in how we use utensils. Not as much pressure can be applied to make the knife cut or the assumption that the knife is dull. But it's more than that; touch also pertains to the mouth. The texture of food is assessed when we place it in our mouths. How does that food feel against the surface of the tongue, teeth, and palate? This sensation is called mouthfeel. The slipperiness of an oyster, an apple's crispness, and ice cream's creaminess. Mouthfeel is the carbonation of beverages, chewiness of candies or meat, smoothness of pudding or pureed food, spiciness or the heat of food, and how cold some foods can be.
The temperature of food also correlates with taste. If food is too hot or cold, you lose the ability to taste. Any temperature above 170°F or below 32°F reduces the taste. The perfect temperature of food is between 72℉ and 105℉.
The sense of touch diminishes as you age. Skin cells lose tissue and elasticity and become less responsive to hot and cold. Loss of muscle mass and strength are well-known complications of aging. All body muscles are affected, including those critical to chewing and swallowing. This could lead to unintentional weight loss. Age-related changes to eating and swallowing mean that seniors naturally tend to self-select 'soft' foods due to dental issues or lack of teeth and fatigue on chewing.
Additionally, tooth loss, poorly fitting dentures, dry mouth, and poor dental health are associated with increased choking risk. Seniors with swallowing difficulties have Dysphagia. While children can struggle with Dysphagia, too, it is most common in people 65 or older. Signs of Dysphagia include coughing or choking while eating or drinking, the sensation of food caught in your throat, excessive saliva, or bringing food back up. Certain diets can help mechanically alter entrees for those suffering to make them easier to chew and swallow. The thickening of liquids will help the swallowing of beverages.
Yes, all tongues are different, and the amount of taste buds on our tongue can differ from person to person. Taste buds should be called taste receivers. The taste receivers can perceive five basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Your taste buds shrink as you age, and the less sensitive they become to the five basic tastes. If your body does not create the amount of saliva needed, dry mouth can also impact your sense of taste. Other factors that may lead to the reduction or the loss of taste are smoking, alcohol, gum disease or denture problems, medications, cancer treatment, and illnesses like Covid 19.
Let's Talk About the Five Tastes
Sweet: Foods that contain some form of sugar, such as candy, desserts, dairy desserts, and sweetened beverages, contain a form of sucrose, glucose, fructose, and lactose. They include honey, maple syrup, caramelized vegetables, ice cream, and fruit. Sweetness brightens and brings out other flavors.
Salty: Sodium chloride or table salt, mineral salts such as a salt substitute potassium. Salt enhances the flavor and aromas around it. While the balance of salt is subjective, you do need enough to bring out the flavor of the ingredients you're cooking. Salt counteracts the sweetness. Salt can tame the bitterness. If what you prepared is too salty, add a potato to absorb the salt or add more liquid or vegetables to dilute the salt.
Bitter: In the past, poisonous foods and toxins often had bitter flavors. Today, bitterness in food is a mild bitterness that complicates a dish when it might otherwise taste bland. Think of bitter greens, eggplants, dark chocolate, charred vegetables, coffee, or tea. Bitter ingredients counteract sweet, such as espresso in a tiramisu or chocolate cake. Adding an acid such as lemon juice can balance out bitterness.
Sour: Sourness, or acidity, is often the perfect contrast to heavy or bland dishes. Use an acid to cut the fattiness of meat or a rich sauce. Sweet and sour go perfectly together! Such as Strawberry Rhubarb Pie! Asian foods usually work with sweet and sour flavors. Sour flavors in a prepared dish help tone down saltiness, sweetness, and bitterness.
Umami: Umami is a Japanese word that means savory or meaty. Foods that contain umami include aged cheeses, Sun-dried tomatoes, dried cured meats, dried mushrooms, a tin of anchovies, soy sauce, seared meats, aged beef, fish, asparagus, and glutamate such as MSG.
Other tastes that are not part of the five primary tastes but more of a sensation:
Fat: Fat picks up the flavor and carries it throughout the dish while enriching it. You can find fat in oil, butter, animal fat, avocado, cream, cheese, almonds, and pine nuts. Use fat such as butter to enrich a sauce and add body when a dish tastes weak. Add spices and herbs directly to butter as a flavor enhancer. Fat can balance out sourness. Temper in unsalted butter (fat) to a sauce just before serving if it tastes salty, bitter, or spicy.
Spicy: Seniors can taste spice rather well. It awakens the tongue. However, too much can offend their palate. Spiciness adds complexity to a dish. Chilies, peppers, hot sauce, ginger, horseradish, and mustard can contribute to spiciness. When a dish tastes boring, add a bit of spice. Like acidity, it will energize other flavors.
Course Foods: Coarse textured foods have a rough, grainy, or gritty texture. These foods are often difficult to chew and swallow and may require more effort to eat than other foods. Crunchy vegetables, seeds, nuts, dried fruits, and whole grains are examples of course foods. These foods may be problematic for people with dental problems or difficulty swallowing.
Cooling Foods can help regulate the body's temperature and provide relief from heat—spicy foods following the cool sensation of sour cream, milk, or yogurt. Cucumbers, watermelons, mint, yogurt, and coconut water are cooling foods. Additionally, sugar can be used to tamper heat.
Soft Foods: Foods such as scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, applesauce, and smoothies are easy to chew and swallow. Soft foods are recommended for people with difficulty eating or swallowing due to dental problems, surgery, or other medical conditions.
Silky: Silky foods have a smooth and creamy texture. Examples include hummus, avocado, tofu, and mashed potatoes.
Rich: Foods and beverages with a rich texture are described as "rich" in flavor: full-bodied wines, nutty foods, or honeyed food such as cheeses.
Astringent: A pungent, tingly, and drying sensation to the mouth. Wine high in tannin or green/black tea and unripe fruits
Soothing: Soothing foods can help calm the body and mind. Bananas can help with blood pressure and reduce stress. Oatmeal can help stabilize blood sugar levels and promote feelings of calm. Chamomile tea can help promote relaxation. Salmon has omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce inflammation and improve brain health. Dark chocolate can help reduce stress and give feelings of calmness.
The Sense of Smell and Taste
We couldn't taste food without our sense of smell. As we chew, we force air through our nasal passage, which allows the scent of the food to be detected by hair-like cilia in our nose. These cilia act as sensors and send a message to our brain, allowing us to experience the food's flavors fully. Remember the old trick of holding your nose while you took medicine when you were young to prevent tasting it?
A smell can also tell us when food is spoiled and helps us avoid getting sick.
Smelling your neighbor's barbeque or sizzling food in a restaurant can stimulate ideas of what to have for dinner or improve an evening out with friends and family.
As we age, the sense of smell can also diminish. When we lose our sense of smell, we can no longer discriminate between scents, which limits flavor depth. The smell is often your first impression of food. Hundreds of aromas are recognizable. Frequently, aromas stimulate memories. When your sense of smell is limited, it decreases taste, and you may lose interest in and enjoyment in eating. The flavor will decrease if you can't smell what you are eating.
There are reasons you lose your sense of smell; COVID-19 has affected many people's sense of taste and smell. Other factors may be smoking, colds and flu, nasal and sinus problems, medications, dental problems, head injuries, and illnesses that affect the nervous system, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases.
Sight and Taste
They say we eat with our eyes, but what happens when your vision is blurred or you are blind? Our vision helps us understand what is good or fresh. The color of the food gives us an understanding of if it will taste good. If you had a choice of a salad with fresh greens or a salad with wilted brownish greens, which would you choose? The fresh, of course! When we are little, we learn to associate color with flavor. A red lifesaver is cherry flavored, green gelatin is lime, and an orange is, you guessed it, orange flavored. With these ideas in mind, your brain's first information about food comes from your eyes. Your eyes can tell if the fresh produce is perfect or past its prime. Even though sight is not a part of taste, it certainly influences perception and whether we want to eat it. Remember, our sight can also fool us, such as a perfectly ripe strawberry with no flavor or a bland pineapple or watermelon. An apple that appears perfect may be mealy instead of having a crunch.
Hearing and Taste
Just as sight contributes to the idea that "You eat with your eyes first," so does your ability to hear.
Sound and food are connected, which may not be surprising. Our ears receive signals from all the sounds around us, like when we pick up and engage with certain foods. The crunch of biting into an apple, the crispness of a chip, the fizz of a carbonated drink or champagne. Hearing also helps with anticipation of a meal. Think of your morning breakfast. Imagine if you poured a bowl of Rice Krispies and added milk, and you don't hear that snap, crackle, and pop? Or the sound of your bacon as it's frying.
Think of this even when you go to a restaurant. Music playing in the background of your favorite restaurant influences your meal's enjoyment. Faster-tempo music makes you want to eat faster or chew to the beat, whereas slower-tempo music makes you eat slower, enjoy your meal, and spend more money at the restaurant. Ask yourself what they are asking me. Should I eat fast so they can fill the seat again, or should I enjoy my meal with my dinner companions? Always relax and enjoy your meal!
What Does it All Mean?
When faced with the unavoidable costs of aging, we don't have to lose the pleasure of and love we once had for food. Even those who have lost their taste can enjoy eating again by getting clever and using our knowledge of the senses. Use spices and herbs for brighter, bolder flavors. Concentrate flavors –such as jam reductions flavored with fresh herbs. Pairing foods and seasonings that have different sensations, such as "burning" and "cooling" or "heat "and "sweet." Use Contrast and Balance in foods. Keep the food varied and interesting. Above all, stimulating our minds will lead to excellent dining experiences, allowing us to enjoy friends, commune with family, and eat great food while continuing to make lasting "sensational" memories for many more years to come.