The Tongue – What A Muscle!
Well actually, the tongue is comprised of a bundle of different muscles; enabling it to perform many different functions. Located on the floor of the mouth, the tongue is responsible for the manipulation of food for chewing, swallowing and tasting. It also assists in the formation of sounds and enables us to sing.  
 
The surface of the tongue is covered in thousands of oval sensory organs, known as the tastebuds. Each tastebud is comprised of ‘taste cells’ covered in tiny hairs. These hairs send messages to the brain, which interprets the signals and identifies the taste for you. Each of us have approximately 10 000 tastebuds; allowing us to taste whether something is sweet, sour, salty or bitter. Your tongue also assists in the eating process by pushing food to your back teeth; so that they may grind it up. The back of the tongue is also of great importance during the consumption of food. Once the food has been ground up and mixed with saliva, muscles at the back of the tongue begin to work. These muscles move and push small portions of food into your esophageus (the food pipe, which leads to your stomach).  
 
Your tongue plays a very important role within the body and is a truly wonderful muscle!

« Click here to view more articles