Dr Tirtha Mendake

11/16/2022

"For some mothers, the pressure to lose weight quickly, combined with inadequate medical support and care postpartum, can be a toxic, even dangerous mix – one that can make birth injuries worse and healing harder. It can also take a toll on both mental and physical health in one of the most vulnerable, sleep-deprived, emotionally turbulent periods of life.

I’ve seen people who started up exercising just a week postpartum who then had issues with cervical and uterine prolapse because they went too hard as well as had increased bleeding," says Lincoln, who is also author of the book Let’s Talk About Down There: An OB-GYN Answers All Your Burning Questions… without Making You Feel Embarrassed for Asking. "I’ve also had birthing parents who were breastfeeding but who cut down their calories too drastically and their milk supply tanked."

After having a baby, mums are barraged with the pressure to return to their pre-baby bodies. It’s having an insidious – sometimes dangerous – effect.

01/26/2022

How do we perceive Taste?

If we did not have Taste Buds in our mouth, a raw potato would taste no different than a delicious steak or a leather purse.

Taste buds are gustatory organs located in the groovy external surface of the tongue, soft palate, pharynx, larynx, and upper oesophagus. The receptor proteins sense food particles and the receptor cells in the taste buds convert the chemical signals to electrical signals. The neurotransmitters carry the electrical signals to the brain for taste perception.

Adults have 2,000 to 5,000 taste buds. The sensory cells in the tastebuds are replaced every 2 weeks.

About half of our receptor cells are designed in varying degrees of sensitivity to different basic tastes. Each cell has a specific taste palette and a unique sensitivity profile. A particular cell might be most sensitive to sweet, followed by sour, salty and bitter, while another cell may have a different sensitivity profile. The roundedness of taste is produced by the meeting of all the taste profiles from different parts of the tongue.

The other half of the sensory cells are designed to react to only one basic taste in varying degrees of intensity. They inform on the intensity of the taste – HOW sweet or bitter is our food.

Assuming 6 basic tastes and 10 levels of intensities, we can experience more than a million flavors. Combined with the senses of touch, temperature, and smell, the flavour possibility is near infinite.

**Our perception of taste plays a crucial role in our gut health. **