By the way, doctor: Is loss of taste or smell a side effect of blood pressure medications?
Q. I know someone who lost her sense of taste after years of heavy prescriptions for high blood pressure. Is this a side effect you have to accept, or should my friend’s doctor try prescribing a different medication? Is the loss of taste reversible? A. Our ability to fully enjoy food requires stimulation of many nerve endings in the mouth and nose. The strict definition of taste is the mouth’s ability to identify what is salty, sweet, sour, or bitter. There’s also a fifth, savory taste called umami (from the Japanese for delicious) that is triggered by monosodium glutamate (MSG). But what we commonly refer to as the taste of food is actually its flavor. And flavor is determined more by the food’s aroma, which is a function of our sense of smell, than by pure taste.
