The inevitable question I get when I tell someone I can't smell is "can you taste?". I used to find the question annoying because I love food so much that it was obvious to me- and therefore should be to others- that I can taste. But as I got older and really thought about it, I realized that I can really only taste the major 'taste' sensations: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, spicy (which is a pain receptor, not a taste) and maybe umami:
"Taking its name from Japanese, umami is a pleasant savoury taste imparted by glutamate, a type of amino acid, and ribonucleotides, including inosinate and guanylate, which occur naturally in many foods including meat, fish, vegetables and dairy products. As the taste of umami itself is subtle and blends well with other tastes to expand and round out flavours, most people don’t recognise umami when they encounter it, but it plays an important role making food taste delicious." http://www.umamiinfo.com/what_exactly_is_umami?/ (yes, there is an Umami Information Centre as well as a Umami Summit)
Perhaps I have an over-capacity to taste umami and that is why I enjoy food so much even though I can't identify subtle flavours. So for example, I would have a hard time telling you that something has a vanilla flavour, or what kind of spice was used in the chicken dish, or that I enjoyed the hint of rosemary on the mashed potatoes. I think I base a lot of what I like and dislike on texture. I hate green beans from the can but I can eat green beans lightly fried with salt and pepper. But I love food, not all food was created equal, and I aspire to being a smelless foodie....if only I cooked more for myself.
For most people, if they have a bad cold which affects their sense of smell, they might find food to be bland. It's true that according to some studies (or at least the first item that popped up in Google), that up to 75% of what we taste actually comes from our sense of smell. So basically, I've taken the 25% and made it 100%. I'm okay with that. My friends and family can tell you that my appetite is just fine.
But there are challenges. Wine, for example, is something I struggle with...I like wine....I like the feeling I get with wine....I can tell a dry wine...but I can't tell you what flavours are in a wine...I can't get a real picture of what a real wine lover is tasting. But bring on the wine...
For more info you could check out http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2006/0608-why_i_hate_anchovies.htm
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
blind in the nose
I decided to write a blog focused on my total lack of a sense of smell (known as anosmia in clinical-speak). My ‘disability’ provides no end of random comments, stories and just plain old curiosities in how I have adapted my being 'smelless' in a smelling person’s world. Plus, I want to find an outlet to force myself to write more and I know I will only do it if I think others might just happen to read it. So here’s to all the anosmiacs out there...cheers to looking mystified when co-workers say your office smells funny, to throwing food out just in case it has gone bad, to burning a Guinness record amount of cookies and to being able to take the garbage out like it’s a bag of freshly laundered clothes.
My mother was initially convinced that I lost my sense of smell after falling off the changetable at a young age. It is true that many people have their smell affected through brain injury. Yes, it could be that this is the case (sorry mom...I don't blame you) but more likely I was born with congenital anosmia. I like to describe it to people as being blind in my nose. I only have 4 senses....and no, I wasn't even blessed with hyper-sight, touch, hearing or taste. The best question I've ever been asked is 'can you breathe?'!!
It's a bit of a downer to say that I've never smelled fresh flowers or bread, a favourite perfume, the scent of a partner or had the pleasure of getting a whiff of some nasty body odour. For all of the bad smells that I get to live without, I also get to live without the good ones. I don't have any smell memories. I also don't have the best memory. I always wondered if my memory would be better if I could associate smells with certain times/life experiences. But my life is pretty good, I can't complain and we all adapt...that's what we do.
"The smells that surround us affect our well-being throughout our lives. Smells also retain an uncanny power to move us. A whiff of pipe tobacco, a particular perfume, or a long-forgotten scent can instantly conjure up scenes and emotions from the past. Many writers and artists have marveled at the haunting quality of such memories. The average human being, it is said, can recognize up to 10,000 separate odors. We are surrounded by odorant molecules that emanate from trees, flowers, earth, animals, food, industrial activity, bacterial decomposition, other humans. In "A Natural History of the Senses", poet Diane Ackerman notes that it is almost impossible to explain how something smells to someone who hasn't smelled it. There are names for all the pastels in a hue, she writes — but none for the tones and tints of a smell." From: The Mystery of Smell http://www.hhmi.org/senses/d/d110.htm
I intend to use this space to try to articulate the different thoughts, experiences and ways of living without a sense of smell. I want to ask my friends and family to comment on any stories they may remember. upcoming...poo alley in India, smoke alarms at university, sensing pheremones, my sense of taste...
My mother was initially convinced that I lost my sense of smell after falling off the changetable at a young age. It is true that many people have their smell affected through brain injury. Yes, it could be that this is the case (sorry mom...I don't blame you) but more likely I was born with congenital anosmia. I like to describe it to people as being blind in my nose. I only have 4 senses....and no, I wasn't even blessed with hyper-sight, touch, hearing or taste. The best question I've ever been asked is 'can you breathe?'!!
It's a bit of a downer to say that I've never smelled fresh flowers or bread, a favourite perfume, the scent of a partner or had the pleasure of getting a whiff of some nasty body odour. For all of the bad smells that I get to live without, I also get to live without the good ones. I don't have any smell memories. I also don't have the best memory. I always wondered if my memory would be better if I could associate smells with certain times/life experiences. But my life is pretty good, I can't complain and we all adapt...that's what we do.
"The smells that surround us affect our well-being throughout our lives. Smells also retain an uncanny power to move us. A whiff of pipe tobacco, a particular perfume, or a long-forgotten scent can instantly conjure up scenes and emotions from the past. Many writers and artists have marveled at the haunting quality of such memories. The average human being, it is said, can recognize up to 10,000 separate odors. We are surrounded by odorant molecules that emanate from trees, flowers, earth, animals, food, industrial activity, bacterial decomposition, other humans. In "A Natural History of the Senses", poet Diane Ackerman notes that it is almost impossible to explain how something smells to someone who hasn't smelled it. There are names for all the pastels in a hue, she writes — but none for the tones and tints of a smell." From: The Mystery of Smell http://www.hhmi.org/senses/d/d110.htm
I intend to use this space to try to articulate the different thoughts, experiences and ways of living without a sense of smell. I want to ask my friends and family to comment on any stories they may remember. upcoming...poo alley in India, smoke alarms at university, sensing pheremones, my sense of taste...
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