Why do I lose my sense of taste when I have a cold?

Question

And most importantly, how can I get my sense of taste back as quickly as possible?

The thing is, I can breathe through my nose just fine now... it was stuffy before, but now it's clear. And I still can't taste anything.

Answer 1

Because most of what we call "taste" is in fact smell, triggered by odor molecules from our food and drink. Some molecules we smell in the air, from the plate or as the fork approaches; others vaporize as we chew, then rise into the nasal passages at the back of the mouth.

Tastebuds alone can detect only sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. "If you lick a pink ice cream cone," says Donald Leopold, an otolaryngologist at Hopkins's Bayview Medical Center, "your tongue tells you it's cold and sweet and smooth, but your sense of smell tells you it's strawberry. Probably 80 percent of what you eat, you appreciate through your sense of smell." That's why if you have a cold, you could mistake a bite of onion for apple.

Answer 2

Because a lot of what you perceive as taste is really smell; the two senses work together. When you're stuffed up and can't smell your food, it tastes different. Decongestants should help some, as will rinsing out your nasal passages with warm salt water (it sounds gross, but snorting a little warm salt water up your nose and spitting it out your mouth does a great job of clearing stuffiness with none of the rebound effect that decongestants will give you.)

Answer 3

Alot of people don't know that most of your taste comes from your sense of smell. When you have a cold the mucus membranes in you nose get inflamed and swollen, this numbs your sense of smell in return taking away your sense of taste. Try breathing in steam to ease the inflammation.

Answer 4

Your sense of smell and taste are linked. So if your nose is stuffed, you won't be able to taste as well. Now, that being said, it also means, if you smell something, you're actually tasting it as well. Happy Farting.

Answer 5

Because taste is a sense that is closely related to smell and smell provides clues that are necessary for taste to be fully pronounced

Answer 6

Believe it or not most of your taste buds are in your nose! As soon as your nose is better, your taste buds will come back. Olfactory receptors - would be a more precise definition - not really quite the same as the taste buds on your tongue.

Answer 7

What you taste is based in large part on what you smell. If your nose is stuffed, you can't smell stuff, and thus you can't taste foods very well (if at all).

Hope you get well soon.

Answer 8

your taste buds are very close to your nose. your smell often enhances the taste of some foods. when you can't smell, you won't taste them as much. when your cold is over, you will be able to taste again soon.

Answer 9

Some of your sense of taste comes from you sense of smell. Cold tablets, rest & prenty of fluids.

Answer 10

you're nose is stuffed. a lot of your taste actually comes from your sense of smell.