Losing a sense (or two)
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about how I’d been contemplating senses and how to trigger them through design. I look back now and find it even more interesting, because at some point during my collision with cars and San Francisco streets, I lost my sense of smell.
Piccino, a bakery / cafe near B’stro, and the site of my bike accident
At this point, we’re not completely sure if it’s temporary or not, but I’m quickly realizing just now important sense of smell is. Losing smell has been good, bad, and interesting. Good because stinky things are no longer stinky, but bad because most smells I used to love are completely absent. And some of those smells — like coffee — now make my stomach churn.
Because sense of smell directly affects your sense of taste, I’ve been disappointed to realize that very few things taste. So this weekend, my husband and I decided to find out what I can and can’t taste. As you may expect, less flavorful foods (bananas, beer and pasta) have zero taste, while flavorful things like garlic or spicy hot foods and very sweet foods (like Skittles) have claimed a minor stake on my taste buds. While it is a horribly sad thing not to be able to smell or taste bread, I’ve enjoyed finding new foods to try.
So here’s my challenge to you. What should I try next? Just tell me what it is and where I can find it. If it’s something I can make at home, post the recipe.
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3 Responses to Losing a sense (or two)
Brooke, I had a similar thing happen to me. A few weeks ago a sinus infection rendered my sense of smell useless and it reduced my sense of taste. And a few years ago I was very sick and spent a few month in chemo, which completely destroyed my taste buds. It’s as you say, mild things had no flavor. Coffee tasted like metal.
You’re on the right track with spicy food. Citrus and other acidic fruits will register (like pineapple and grapefruit). Stay close to mexican restaurants. This may be a good time to dive into thai and indiana food, too. Curry has such a strong aroma and flavor, it has a good chance of breaking through.
Anyway, I know exactly how this feels. It’s terrible. You eat, you’re full, but you’re not satisfied. Your brain knows you ate, but you’re still hungry — but you still crave food, flavor. Hang in there, I’m sure it’ll pass.
Thanks for the suggestions Drew! I did try Indian on Sunday and asked them to make it a bit spicier and was pleasantly surprised to find that I could could taste it. Looks like Thai is next on the list!
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