Umami: A Key to Good Teeth for the Elderly

Stimulate your appetite with seaweed

A recent study has suggested that the fifth taste, umami, can help elderly people maintain good health and good teeth through its ability to stimulate appetite.

Taste is one of the greatest pleasures in human life. However, aging is sometimes associated with decreased taste sensitivity. This induces a lack of appetite and weight loss, leading to poor health.

A newly developed umami taste sensitivity test revealed the loss of only umami, with preservation of the other four basic taste sensations (sweet, salty, sour, and bitter) in some elderly patients.

So it's the absence of savoury tastes that's linked to loss of appetite, and consequently physical health. Maintaining the umami taste function contributes to the preservation of good oral health and general health in elderly people. Improvements were noted in salivation, taste function, appetite, weight, and overall health when patients could enjoy umami.

Mara's Kombu is particularly high in umami flavour and the flakes make it really easy to add to your food. So why not give it a try, and share some with your elderly neighbours and relatives.