Their children are living their own lives, and the mate who shared a lifetime of meals may be ill or gone. In addition, the older widower, whose meals were always prepared for him, may be at a loss in the kitchen. And the widow, who once loved to cook, may no longer find it pleasurable to prepare meals with no one else there to savor her efforts. Depression in general, especially when there is little social life, is a large and significant problem among seniors. And depression also leads to a loss of energy and lack of interest in eating or mealtime.
Medications play a part, too.
Any or all of these can leave an aftertaste in the mouth. Without our realizing it, that lingering aftertaste transfers to our saliva and then to our food, masking or altering its flavor, and leaving us wondering why a familiar dish doesn't taste the same anymore. While some medication interactions are implicated in loss of appetite, others cause it through their side effects. Aging can mean less rushing about and physical activity in general, and that, too, can cause a lack of appetite. When we don't get thoroughly hungry, we don't have the indescribable pleasure of assuaging a hearty, stomach-rumbling hunger.