You lose about half of your taste buds as you age, which often makes bitter or intense flavors more enjoyable.

The human tongue is covered with papillae, which house the taste buds responsible for detecting sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami flavors. While the average infant starts life with approximately 10,000 taste buds, the regeneration process slows down significantly as people enter their 40s and 50s. In younger individuals, taste bud cells replace themselves every 10 to 14 days, but this cycle weakens with age, leading to a permanent reduction in total count.Research published in journals like 'Chemical Senses' indicates that by age 70, the density of these receptors can drop by over 50 percent. This physiological change is often accompanied by olfactory dysfunction, where the sense of smell also diminishes. Since up to 80 percent of what we perceive as flavor actually comes from our sense of smell, the combination of fewer taste buds and a weaker nose makes food seem much blander than it did in youth.This sensory decline explains the 'acquired taste' phenomenon for substances like dark chocolate, kale, and espresso. Children have a high density of receptors, making bitter compounds—which the brain often associates with toxins—tasting intensely unpleasant. As the number of receptors decreases, the perceived intensity of bitterness drops into a range that adults find complex and pleasurable rather than offensive.