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(HealthDay News) -- Taste impairments can be caused by anything that affects the way the brain processes your sense of taste, including smoking, a vitamin deficiency, a drug, or even the common cold.

Here are other common causes of taste problems, courtesy of the U.S. National Library of Medicine:

• Aging.
• Strep throat or flu.
• An injury to the mouth, nose, or head.
• Gingivitis (gum disease).
• Conditions such as Bell's Palsy, Sjogren Syndrome, or pharyngitis.
• Dryness of the mouth.
• An infection in the nasal passages, sinusitis or nasal polyps.