Why does my mouth water when I smell food?

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Did you know that taste and smell are very closely related? – In fact, smell is responsible for about 75% of what we taste!  (If you’ve ever had a stuffy nose, you probably noticed that your food did not taste as strongly as it normally does, for this exact reason!)

The “water” that your mouth makes (both all day and when you smell yummy food) is called saliva. One of saliva’s jobs is to help break down your food while you chew, before it gets to your stomach. And believe it or not, the saliva you have in your mouth also helps you to taste your food even more! 

So, the reason your mouth waters and make more saliva when you smell food is because your body is getting excited and ready to eat all of the yummy tastes it is detecting through your nose!

There's something about saliva!

Try this experiment to see the way saliva helps with taste!

Take a clean, dry paper towel and use it to dry off your tongue.

Then, eat a food you are familiar with -- something like pretzels or crackers will work best. As you chew the food, think about how it tastes.

Now, take a drink of water, and try eating the food again.

Do you notice any difference?