The aftermath of suffering from the Covid-19 virus is something that experts are still learning about – but one huge symptom has been a major source of conversation lately: shifts in what you taste when you eat certain food groups – and for some, these changes have been long term.
While “a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste” is listed by the NHS as one of the key symptoms of Covid-19, many have reported these symptoms to last beyond their time being Covid-positive, and for some this issue has evolved into tastes returning, but not as they were before.
Tik Tok user Gavin Bundy posted a video listing all the food groups that now taste different to him after having Covid-19. He reports suffering from a loss of sense of taste while suffering from Covid-19, but then being hit with a different problem months after recovery – various food groups tasting weird or different to him.
For example, he says that mushrooms now taste like rusted metal, garlic, onion and meat all taste like soap and potatoes taste like eggs. Confusing, and at times nasty.
Covid-19 sufferers have also taken to Twitter to report “being able to smoke all the time” to losing their sense of taste altogether for varying periods of time.
There seems to be a real range of recovery times – some Covid-19 sufferers have reported these symptoms lifted after they had tested negative, while others have reported that the impact on their taste buds has lasted months and even over a year.
Professor Barry Smith – the expert leading the group researching “loss of smell’ as a Covid-19 symptom and its impact on taste – has answered GLAMOUR’s questions on what we can learn about the impact of Covid-19 on our sense of taste and smell, and the potential of long-term impact.
We’re dealing with two things, the first of which is a condition called anosmia. “This is a complete loss of the sense of smell,” Professor Smith says. “With Covid-19 people experienced a sudden onset of anosmia, as if their sense of smell had suddenly been switched off.”
The second is parosmia – the issue that Gavin Bundy’s TikTok explores – which is “a distortion in how familiar things smell usually making them smell disgusting”.
“This usually applies to familiar foods and drinks – one patient described the smell of coffee as like fruity sewage,” Professor Smith says. “Most parosmia sufferers find coffee, chocolate, roasted meats, onions and garlic have come to smell foul and like bin juice. Very often patients speak of a persisting chemical or burned smell.
“A pattern we have seen again and again in those whose loss of smell lasted for many months is that the sense of smell returns and all seems normal at first and then people start to experience parosmia and the distortions in their sense of smell.”
Why does Covid-19 affect and sometimes distort your sense of taste?
“The nose is a major infection site for Covid-19, and a subsequent loss of sense of smell can “rob people of the familiar flavours in their food,” Professor Smith says. “Instead of tasting salmon, or chicken, or melon or tomato, for example, all they can taste is salt, sweet, sour, bitter tastes.”
While some Covid-19 patients have had “diminished responses” from their taste buds, the vast majority of patients derive most of their issues tasting food from their loss of their sense of smell, he adds.
What can you do to try and regain your sense of taste?
Professor Smith recommends stimulating your sense of smell, due to the likelihood that your ability to taste things is going to be heightened if the receptors in your nose are working well.
“When people with anosmia cannot smell anything, it is important to try smell training,” he says. “There is good scientific evidence that sniffing 4 different essential oils – clove, rose, lemon and eucalyptus, say – first thing in the morning, a few times during the day and last thing at night helps many recover their sense of smell sooner.”
He also recommends ensuring you keep sniffing regularly, even if it feels pointless. “Even when no smell is experienced to begin with, this task is about trying to reconnect the pathways from receptor signals to the brain,” he says.
What long term impacts are there of a loss or distorted sense of taste?
The good news is if your sense of taste has become distorted, this can be a good sign. “It is a sign that their smell receptors are regenerating,” Professor Smith says. “Although there seems to be some miswiring – with the connections going into the wrong ports – this condition will resolve itself.
However, it’s important to exercise patience and manage expectations as your body recovers. “It may take months and we are still hearing from patients with long-term parosmia,” he says.