Why do some foods "taste" better hot or cold?
540577
There are several factors in the sensation of taste.  Part of it is chemical; a rectaion to the molecules with specific receptors in an array along your tounge.  This identifies combinations of sweet, sour, salty, etc..., that you interpret according to patterns established by your brain.  Eg, if you are low on salt often high salt low sweet foods 'taste' good.\n\nSecondly, much of your taste is processed via sensory receptors in the nose.  While the basic groups (salty, etc..) are managed by the tounge, the subtlities and higher resolution taste's come from olifactory responses.  When temperature increases, some chemicals in the mixture of whatever you are eating will travel in air with a greater affinity than others, changing the concentration of molecules that land on olifactory receptors, in effect, changing the taste.\n\nThe third and most significant factor is memory and is a learned condition.  Your brain functions primarily by associations -- if the first time you ate lobster was a beautiful day, this association is likely to be made subconciously each time you eat lobster.  I, for example, remember horking the first time I tasted tequila; as a result I feel like horking again on every subsequent taste.    part of your memory with something like icecream is associated with the cold response -- its very different when warm.\n\nHave you ever took a sip of seomthing and grabbed the wrong thing, finding it disgusting b/c you were expecting something else?  As in you think its lemonade and end up with coke, so you pull away disgusted, even though you might like coke?  This is the power of subconcious effects.
714659
It's probably not the zinc lozenges that is causing you not to be able to taste anything, it's your cold.  When  your sense of smell is compromised, your sense of taste is also, because the senses of smell and taste are tied together.  Once your sneezing and runny nose clear up, you should be able to taste things again.
221941
your breath is warm compared to cold temperatures
319997
actually, we have different kinds of taste buds that do different things. some are only there to move food along, others have pores which entrap food and absorb the chemicals to stimulate our sensory neurons. We use our smell as well because all foods have odors that are detected by the odorant binding molecules located near the nose, superior to the roof of the mouth. To sum up your question, it has to do with the odorants binding to the receptors in the nose to send messages to the brain and also the tastant molecules being mixed with saliva to dissolve the taste to send messages to the brain. the cerebral cortex/
400139
yeah, it's your body using it's energy to digest the food instead of keeping you at a steady temperature.  espeically happens after i eat a lot.
729460
All air that comes out of our mouths is hot its just the way you breath that changes the temp. eg: an open mouth will Release hot air due to it traveling slower out your mouth and when you blow hard the air rushes faster out your mouth giving it quicker to cool down. our bodies temp will change to the way we feel, hot when we sick etc
1065347
that's like saying why does candy taste so good?
571647
They do have taste buds and have a definite preference of one type of food over another.  Also, animals have an excellent sense of smell and that is an important component of how food tastes and determining if one thing is better to eat than another.
536983
Don't flavor it. Our bodies have specific taste buds in our throat that taste pure water. After a few days of drinking water, you will learn to appreciate that flavor. And as other answerers said, the temperature of the water will make a difference. Some people like it ice-cold, some like it tepid. If you want to buy water to get the purest, some brands you might like are Dansani and Pellegrino, they have some natural minerals in them, which make them taste both pure and flavorful.
1158314
Salmon tastes better.
35706
After you eat, a large portion of your blood goes to your stomach to aid in digestion. This can reduce the volume of blood going to your extremities and skin, making you feel colder.\n\nNot everyone gets cold after eating - it depends on the individual's circulatory system.
540853
The spicy food is sensed not just by the taste buds, but also the sensors for pain & irritation.\nFor instance, if accidentally, u touch inside ur nose, or uotside the corner of ur mouth, it will cause burning sensation.
999637
That is how your body reacts to hot foods. There is no great explanation, but it is how your body reacts.
26224
I love the cold. In the cold it's simpler to just put on the heat when your cold. but its harder to chill the heat
730460
We feel the taste because there are ionic channels in the membrane of taste cells. Ionic channels are proteins which activate with stimulus like acid, warm, cool, etc. The main function of these ionic channels in the taste cells are to sense taste, but they can be sensible to temperature as well, so fever could give you an illusion of bitter taste because the activation of such a channel by temperature and not by any bitter substance.
744845
The basic tastes are the commonly recognized types of taste sensed by humans. Humans receive tastes through sensory organs called taste buds or gustatory calyculi, concentrated on the upper surface of the tongue. Scientists describe seven basic tastes: bitter, salty, sour, astringent, sweet, pungent (eg chili), and umami. This last being from a number of recent scientific publications about new basic tastes,[citation needed] also termed savoury (the flavour of certain glutamates). Asian cooking has long recognized umami as a flavour.\n\nThere is scientific dispute as to whether basic tastes exist per se or are simply an overly reductionist concept. There is also philosophical dispute between biochemists, who believe evidence for a chemical reaction in tongue tissue means there is a basic taste, and psychologists, who see taste as much more based on psychological states and experiences.[citation needed]\n\nPsychologists speak more about "flavour profiles" than tastes, based on the ways people report experiencing taste. Such reports and testing tend to show even the classic four basic tastes shading into each other on a spectrum of experience.[
392546
heat speeds up movement because molecules shrink and there is more room for movement. cold slows down molecule movement because they expand and there is less room for movement. It's basic physical science.