It’s been a couple of years now since severe indoor allergies and a virus culminated in the permanent loss of my sense of smell, which also means that food no longer has flavor—only the basic salty, bitter, sour, or sweet. Sometimes my annoyance at my dining companions brings me to extreme exasperation. Rather than erupt in annoyance, I am offering these rules merely as a way to vent.
1. Don’t Keep Asking Me If I Can Taste This or That
The answer is no—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
2. Don’t Keep Asking Me If My Sense of Smell Has Improved Any since Our Last Get-Together
Again, the answer is no—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
3. Don’t Assume You Get to Go Home with My Leftovers
I did not go out to eat with you because of the food but to visit with you and because I have to eat every day. If I paid for my meal, I will eat the leftovers for dinner or lunch because, despite the fact that I cannot taste food, I still get hungry and I still have to eat and I still have a food budget.
4. Don’t Suggest/Assume That I’m Lucky Because My Problem Will Cause Me to Lose Weight
I’d trade fifty extra pounds for functioning olfactory nerves in a New York minute. (Same deal for a healthy liver.) As some experts (see below) have noted, people who cannot taste the flavors of healthy foods like peppers, tomatoes, garlic, spices, etc., often have a stronger attraction to salty snacks or sweets. I can confirm that such cravings are indeed a problem.
5. Don’t Keep Telling Me There Must Be Something That Can Be Done to Reverse/Alleviate/Cure My Problem
There isn’t. My dad spent big bucks going to doctors and getting every test there was till they finally told him his loss of smell was permanent. The University of Connecticut Center for Smell and Taste Problems (or something like that) provided a very detailed websitedescribing the most common causes of loss of smell and described my problem to a T. That was enough diagnosis for me, since my own doctors had literally shrugged when I reported my loss of smell to them.
On a final note, I still have a Bon Appetit on any day that my liver/gall bladder/intestinal problems are not in high gear.
1. Don’t Keep Asking Me If I Can Taste This or That
The answer is no—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
2. Don’t Keep Asking Me If My Sense of Smell Has Improved Any since Our Last Get-Together
Again, the answer is no—today, tomorrow, and for the rest of my life.
3. Don’t Assume You Get to Go Home with My Leftovers
I did not go out to eat with you because of the food but to visit with you and because I have to eat every day. If I paid for my meal, I will eat the leftovers for dinner or lunch because, despite the fact that I cannot taste food, I still get hungry and I still have to eat and I still have a food budget.
4. Don’t Suggest/Assume That I’m Lucky Because My Problem Will Cause Me to Lose Weight
I’d trade fifty extra pounds for functioning olfactory nerves in a New York minute. (Same deal for a healthy liver.) As some experts (see below) have noted, people who cannot taste the flavors of healthy foods like peppers, tomatoes, garlic, spices, etc., often have a stronger attraction to salty snacks or sweets. I can confirm that such cravings are indeed a problem.
5. Don’t Keep Telling Me There Must Be Something That Can Be Done to Reverse/Alleviate/Cure My Problem
There isn’t. My dad spent big bucks going to doctors and getting every test there was till they finally told him his loss of smell was permanent. The University of Connecticut Center for Smell and Taste Problems (or something like that) provided a very detailed websitedescribing the most common causes of loss of smell and described my problem to a T. That was enough diagnosis for me, since my own doctors had literally shrugged when I reported my loss of smell to them.
On a final note, I still have a Bon Appetit on any day that my liver/gall bladder/intestinal problems are not in high gear.