While the tongue has thousands of taste buds to measure the four primary tastes - salty, sour, sweet, and bitter - the olfactory receptor cells at the top of the nasal cavity measure the odors that provide you with the sumptuous (or not-so-sumptuous) flavors associated with certain foods. Your inability to taste anything when you have a cold is closely related to all the sniffling that keeps you inside and under the blankets. As if a runny nose, coughing, and a sore throat weren't bad enough, you and millions of others coping with a cold can't even savor the flavor of homemade soup.
