I really want to believe that magic exists. Like wouldn't it be cool if love potions were real, pigs could fly, and Shia LaBeouf was actually a witch?
Well, some people on TikTok took their magical thinking to the next level when they started spreading a rumor that people can taste food with their testicles.
It all started with this girl who pulled up an article about a 2013 study that said testicles have taste buds that can detect flavors.
Then TikTok user Alx James decided to put soy sauce on his testicles to see if he'd be able to taste it.
He insisted that he could "taste the salt."
This guy claimed he tasted something, too.
We documented their madness in this BuzzFeed Video:
Just as I was descending into a state of panic about this being a real thing, I came across this TikTok of a hot (and informed) doctor calling bullshit on the testicle trend.
I decided to call him up so he could shed some light on the scrotum saga. "Research shows that there are taste bud receptors all over the body and it’s speculated to be for fertility," Dr. Kirten Parekh, a 31-year-old foot and ankle surgeon based out of New Jersey, told BuzzFeed.
"Just because you have taste buds in that area doesn’t mean you can physically taste those flavors. Your body might receive it, but you won’t have a perceptive taste of sweet, sour, or whatever flavor," he said.
So there you have it. You, in fact, cannot taste food with your balls. But Dr. Kirten still found the videos hilarious and appreciated everyone's medical curiosity.
