Pumpkin Seeds and the Sense of Taste
When it comes to wine tasting, serious wine tasting as is found among the working crowd (those behind the tasting bar) in the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, the quality of one's palate typically comes up. Generally palates are rated in three groups, tolerant, sensitive and hyper-sensitive, depending on the number of taste buds on the tongue. Women normally have more taste buds, which is one of the reasons that men tolerate flavors that the ladies turn their noses up at.
In other words, while she is saying 'yuch!', he is taking a second, or third sip. That is a hyper-sensitive compared to a tolerant taster. The first drinks their coffee with cream and sugar and the second drinks it however it comes.
What about the nose? So much of the wine experience is in the nose, because while the palate only gets five major flavors the nose picks up 2,200 scents, that have been identified. While the palate seems rather short-changed consider this, how many combinations of five flavors can be created, now add in whether the individual flavors are strong or weak. Just like colors we get flavors that blend together better than others.
The cool thing about the palate and the sense of smell is that they are controlled by the limbic part of the brain which has an amazing memory. That's why you will taste something twenty years later and recall it so well, that part of you doesn't easily forget. It is the limbic system that connects to emotions which is why flavors affect us so emotionally.
So why pumpkin seed? Because you want to hold onto your sense of smell and taste. This is one of the unfair realities of aging, as men get older (it happens to women too although to a lesser extent) they get low in zinc and that deficiency causes the sense of smell to weaken. As iron is to women's health zinc is to men. It is an essential part of semen, it is critical to the immune system and important to the entire hormonal system, and it affects the sense of smell and taste.
Guess what seed is extremely high in zinc and is also very good for the prostate gland? Pumpkin! Why else would nature make it so big and bright? It is also great for ridding the body of parasites and protecting you from invasion. This is very helpful for anyone with pets or who work in agriculture. In men, one of the places where parasites head is the prostate, because it is the most mineral rich part of the body.
That failing sense of taste is one of the reasons why men like the big, powerfully flavored red wines. Women, with their more sensitive palates often find the big Cabs hard to tolerate. You can find raw, organic pumpkin seeds at any Whole Foods in the bulk department. Don't get the salted ones. Have a small handful daily and after a month or so you will find your palate and sense of smell sharpening up.
Cooking hint: when you are making a creamy soup lightly toast some pumpkin seeds in a fry pan with a little olive oil and then sprinkle them on the soup. Delicious!