Yeah, texture is a surprisingly large part of what people enjoy about food. It's honestly weird that we consider it a separate thing from taste, since you take it into account almost as much as flavor when you cook.

I lost half of my tongue senses on a wisdom tooth extraction, it came back slowly during 3 month (its almost 100% back now) but it was terrifying the first week, I just kept thinking If I could live with that, a feeling of depression hit hard

My sense of taste has diminished (a couple of years ago), I think because I had a needle full of anesthetic jabbed into my gumline a few too many times and they hit my nerve once.

I no longer really taste much of anything in the front half of my tongue. Still can in the back half, though. I've gotten used to it, although it annoys me when I think about it. I'm lucky I haven't lost it completely, that would be a sad day.

I think you're right, in that as long as I can feel the food, I could eat alright. Probably would eat a bit healthier, though.