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COVID-19-Associated Loss of Taste and Smell and the Implications for Sensory Nutrition

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Sensory Science and Chronic Diseases

Abstract

The loss of taste and smell caused by COVID-19 is a pandemic that may outlast the virus and have long-term effects on nutrition and human health. While the loss of smell after a viral illness is a rare side effect of ordinary colds and flu, its effects on food intake and preferences have been studied. However, the novelty of COVID-19-related smell loss is the large number of people affected and the loss of taste as well as smell. Some people with SARS-CoV-2 infection also lose the sense of chemesthesis (the sense used to perceive, e.g., the burn of chili peppers). Many people are slow to regain their sense of taste and smell, and although it is too soon to be certain, it appears that for about 10% of patients, symptoms have not improved or have worsened after six months to a year. Early reports of the effects of these losses include loss of food enjoyment and development of depression, leading to reduced quality of life. Historically, smell loss causes a differential effect on food intake—some patients increase consumption, others decrease, with the majority experiencing overall diminished nutritional quality. However, the compounding effect of complete chemosensory loss on sensory nutrition (e.g., food intake and food choice) remains to be fully understood. The effects of these COVID-19-related chemosensory losses are likely to be large, but further research is needed to better describe their impact and pave the way for treatment.

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Acknowledgments

Pamela Dalton provided feedback on the assessment of food intake in chemosensory patients. We acknowledge the comments provided by Michael Tordoff during the development of this manuscript. We thank Joel Mainland, who contributed ideas discussed here, especially details about the class 1 vs. class 2 olfactory receptors. MEH is supported by the by the National Institutes of Health T32 funding (DC000014), and DRR is supported in part through NIH U01DC019578.

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  1. Monell Chemical Senses Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    Mackenzie E. Hannum & Danielle R. Reed

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  1. Mackenzie E. Hannum
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Correspondence to Mackenzie E. Hannum .

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  1. National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and National Institute of Nursing Research Bethesda, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Paule Valery Joseph

  2. Department of Allied Health Sciences College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA

    Valerie Buzas Duffy

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Hannum, M.E., Reed, D.R. (2021). COVID-19-Associated Loss of Taste and Smell and the Implications for Sensory Nutrition. In: Joseph, P.V., Duffy, V.B. (eds) Sensory Science and Chronic Diseases. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86282-4_12

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