Common Cold and Loss of Taste and Smell

While suffering from a seasonal flu, my biggest trouble is that I cannot get the taste of food that I eat, a condition referred to as ageusia. Sense of smell has also taken a break, the condition is called anosmia, and it is giving me a kind of mixed feeling. Those same food whose aroma and flavour used to fill the nostrils and induced craving apatite, they do not appealing any more.  Have you ever wondered why our taste and smell go awry during sickness, I did!

My bout of rationality returned with a likely reason that probably nature has designed it in this way that during sickness one does not get overindulgent. With likelihood of slowed digestive fire during sickness, eating heavy meals would complicate the body’s healing capacity. This is the reason that one suffering from such sickness is advised light meal and high amount of liquid diet. Although patients prefer to consume hot and spicy soup during mealtime or otherwise.

Image source: vocalcoach.hubpage.com

But what could be the science behind this. It appears that loss of taste and smell during sickness has to do with how mucous has occupied the taste buds and smell receptors. Actually, our taste buds located on the tongue help us in sensing only four types of flavours that is salty, sweet, bitter and sour. But, nearly 75% of our sense of taste comes from our sense of smell. It has been found that the tiny molecules of ‘odour’ when interact with ‘smell receptors’ in the nasal cavity that produces the perception of taste.

As we chew the food item the aerosol generated in mouth gets filled with odour particles and it goes to the top of the nasal cavity where smell receptors interact with these odour particles and generate the taste of the food.

During common cold, flu, bacterial sinus infection, and other condition when a thick mucus layer covers the smell receptors in the nasal cavity, our sense of smell ceases and so does our taste.

Besides the mucus, virus which directly infect the nasal epithelial cells, they take over the host cell machinery and starts synthesizing their own DNAs and proteins. In this 'coup', the synthesis of nasal epithelium’s own proteins including ‘smell receptors’ suffers and also the integrity of these cells is lost leading to apoptosis and cell death. This may be seen some times as ‘bloody’ nasal discharge. Due to these factors the smell capacity and thus sense of taste become deficient for the duration till mucus thickness is decreased and the new epithelium with odour receptors replaces the dead cells.

The remedy? Steam may help loosen the mucus. Soup with herbal mix including ginger, garlic, mint and other healthy concoction with soothe the nasal passage and give some respite.

So, here comes my cup of soup, Cheers to taste buds, I know it’s not your fault.