Why does taste affect smell

Some things can cause a long-lasting loss of smell. A head injury, for example, can damage the nerves related to smell. Be sure to tell your doctor about any change in your sense of smell. Learn more about the sense of smell in older adults. You need to be able to detect smoke, gas leaks, spoiled food, and vapors from potentially dangerous household chemicals.

There are tiny taste buds inside your mouth: On your tongue, in your throat, even on the roof of your mouth. These flavors — plus the sensations of heat, coolness, and texture, combine inside the mouth to give us a sense of taste. Along with how it tastes, how food smells is also part of what makes up its flavor. When food tastes bland, many people try to improve the flavor by adding more salt or sugar. This may not be healthy for older people, especially if you have medical problems like high blood pressure or diabetes high blood sugar.

People who have lost some of their sense of taste may not eat the foods they need to stay healthy. This can lead to other issues such as:. Eating food that is good for you is important to your health.

If you have a problem with how food tastes, be sure to talk with your doctor. Many things can cause you to lose your sense of taste.

Most of the time there are ways to help with the problem. A new loss of taste is a symptom that can occur with coronavirus infection. Medications, like antibiotics and pills to lower cholesterol and blood pressure, can sometimes change how food tastes.

Some medicines such as those for high blood pressure, depression, and bladder-control issues can make your mouth dry. Having a dry mouth can cause food to taste funny and also make it hard to swallow. Talk to your doctor if you think a medicine is affecting your sense of taste.

There may be different medicines that you can try. We evaluate patients with taste and smell problems at weekly clinics, as well as conduct taste and smell research programs here at UConn Health.

Treatment is offered when appropriate, although less than a third of patients evaluated here will be determined to have a treatable taste or smell problem. The chemical senses include taste and smell. The perception of a smell occurs when substances in the air pass through the nose and stimulate the olfactory smell nerve. The experience of taste, or gustation, occurs when the taste buds in your mouth respond to substances dissolved in saliva.

The four basic tastes are salty, sweet, sour and bitter. Losses or distortions of taste and smell have many causes such as nasal disease, upper respiratory infections, head injury, neurological disorders, or dental problems.

There are some people who have had no sense of smell since birth. Flavor is what people commonly call the "taste" of food. It is actually a combination of smell, taste, spiciness, temperature and texture.

Much of the flavor of food comes from smell, so that when you are unable to smell you have lost much of your ability to experience flavor. There could be an underlying cause to be addressed, or — worse — there are dangerous hazards that can accompany these losses, especially for those with a loss of smell i.

Holbrook said. Eric Holbrook, M. Eye and Ear. Search the Mass. Eye and Ear physician directory to find the right ophthalmology eye or otolaryngology ear, nose and throat specialist. Good article. Intersting to me as i have congenital anosmia therefore have never smelled.

I often wonder how my food would taste if i could smell. Expert Chats. Eye and Ear Communications Tuesday, Nov 1, Read More. Eye and Ear Communications Thursday, Mar 22, Are you just snoring, or is it a sign of sleep apnea? Eye and Ear Communications Monday, Jul 17, Pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist Dr. Michael Cohen offers tips for parents to keep children safe this summer.

For Medical Professionals. Skip to Main Content. Skip Search Controls. Monday, Jun 11, Expert Chats by Mass. Eye and Ear Communications. Taste Loss Without Smell Loss Sometimes, patients believe that they have taste loss, when it is actually a loss of smell. But there are some patients who have true taste loss.