The ability to taste the delicious food is one of the great pleasures of life. Sometimes, due to illness or age, you may lose your sense of taste. This makes it difficult for you to enjoy food. Don't worry, the loss of appetite is sometimes temporary and can be reversed. With a few simple ways, you can enjoy food again.
Step
Method 1 of 3: Using the Home Method
Step 1. Massage your face with castor oil to relieve sinusitis
To relieve sinusitis and restore sense of smell and taste, rub about tsp. (2.5 ml) castor oil mixed with a drop of an essential oil, such as eucalyptus, onto the face with medium pressure. Start at the eyes, and massage along the eyebrows to the ears, then down to either side of the nose.
- When applied topically, castor oil can improve blood flow and dry out the sinuses.
- The senses of taste and smell are closely related, losing one can affect the other. That's why you're more likely to lose your appetite if you have a cold, flu, or stuffy nose due to allergies.
Step 2. Drink hot tea when sick
Boil water in a saucepan or kettle, and pour it into a teapot. Add tea leaves or herbal tea bags of choice, the brewing time will depend on the tea used, usually between 3 and 5 minutes. Drink while hot.
- You can drink as much herbal tea as you want, but try to drink at least one cup a day when you are sick.
- Drinking hot herbal teas when you have a cold helps thin the mucus in your nostrils. This will restore the sense of smell and taste. Nice and hot drinks also stimulate the appetite.
- There are many types of herbal teas that you can try. Chamomile for anti-inflammatory and peppermint for antimicrobial and good for the digestive tract. Both are great for helping fight disease and relieve cold symptoms.
Step 3. Mix garlic with water to fight colds
Garlic is a natural antibiotic that helps fight disease. For the most effective treatment, put 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic in a glass of water, and drink immediately.
- Pregnant women should not use more than 1 clove of garlic in a day as a medicine.
- You can also add garlic to your food, which will stimulate your appetite due to its strong taste.
Step 4. Breathe in the steam to clear a stuffy nose
Bring 1 to 2 cups (250 to 500 ml) of water to a boil in a large saucepan, and remove when it boils. Cover the pot for 5 minutes, then open it and place your face directly over the pan with a towel over your head to prevent the steam from hitting your face directly. Breathe in the hot steam for as long as you can, up to 15 minutes.
- If you want, you can add 2 tsp each. (10 ml) of thyme, oregano, and rosemary to the water.
- You can also add cup (120 ml) of vinegar to the water to help fight disease.
Step 5. Gargle with oil to maintain oral health
Add 1 to 2 tsp. (5 to 10 ml) of coconut, olive, or sesame oil into your mouth and gargle for 20 minutes. The oil thickens when you rinse it and turns white when you spit it out. When you're done gargling, spit the oil into the trash, not the sink, so the pipes don't get clogged.
- Clean your mouth with warm water and brush your teeth.
- Oil gargles can fight harmful bacteria in the mouth that paralyze the sense of taste, and eliminate bad taste. Gargle with the oil once every morning before eating or drinking anything.
Step 6. Consume cinnamon daily to improve oral health
You can add cinnamon to many foods and drinks. If you have a cold or flu, add tsp. (2.5 ml) ground cinnamon into tea, with the addition of a drop of honey to sweeten, then drink while hot.
- There are many health benefits of cinnamon, including its anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties. Cinnamon helps reduce swelling due to colds and flu which eliminates the sense of taste, it also prevents tooth decay and gum disease that affects the ability to taste food.
- Like other foods, excessive consumption is also not good for health. Just 1 to 2 tsp. (5 to 10 ml) daily if you have no other medical problems. Consult a doctor if in doubt.
Method 2 of 3: Changing Your Lifestyle
Step 1. Eat zinc rich foods
Loss of sense of smell and taste is sometimes caused by zinc deficiency. Zinc is very important in bodily functions, but is not stored for long in the body. So you need a constant intake of zinc from food.
- Foods rich in zinc include shellfish, beef, pumpkin seeds, tahini, dark chocolate, crab, lobster, pork, and beans.
- Sometimes a zinc supplement is needed to help, but don't start taking it without consulting your doctor. Excessive consumption of zinc, more than 100 to 200 mg a day can reduce iron and copper levels, vomiting, and digestive problems.
Step 2. Drink approximately 8 glasses of 250 ml of water every day
Dry mouth can cause loss of sense of taste and smell. Getting enough fluids is also a measure of general health, and can prevent colds that reduce appetite.
- If you are rarely thirsty and your urine is clear or pale yellow, chances are you are getting enough fluids.
- Everyone's needs are different, some need more or less than 8 glasses of water a day to maintain adequate fluids in the body. On average, women need 12 cups (2.7 liters) of fluids a day and men need about 16 cups (3.7 liters).
Step 3. Brush your teeth and floss regularly
Maintaining healthy teeth is very important to prevent gingivitis, an early stage of gum disease caused by plaque buildup at the edges of the gums. Excessive plaque on the gums and disease and tooth decay can reduce appetite. So, keep your mouth healthy by diligently flossing and brushing with fluoride toothpaste for at least 2 minutes twice a day.
Step 4. Quit smoking if you are a smoker
Try different strategies until you find the one that works best, such as quitting suddenly, using nicotine replacement therapy such as chewing gum or patches that gradually reduce the amount of nicotine consumed, or requesting a prescription medication such as Chantix or Zyban which reduces cravings and withdrawal symptoms because of the method they work. change the chemistry in the brain.
- Smoking is not only detrimental to overall health, but also impairs the ability to taste food. You can restore your appetite if you stop smoking for at least 2 days.
- It can be difficult, but don't give up trying to quit smoking because there are many strategies and one of them will work for you. Some smokers manage to quit with hypnosis, acupuncture, and meditation to help break the mental and physical habits associated with smoking.
Step 5. Use extra spices and flavors in foods as they age
The sense of taste will naturally decrease with age. To work around this, you can enhance the taste of food by adding spices and herbs, such as basil, oregano, coriander, and pepper.
- If there are no health concerns, add cheese, bacon crumbs, butter, olive oil, and toasted nuts to the vegetables for more flavor.
- Don't add too much salt or sugar because they are unhealthy.
- Avoid dishes like casseroles that combine many ingredients and mask the taste of each. Such dishes can weaken the sense of taste.
- Make sure the seasonings you use are still fairly new, as they will lose their flavor if they have been stored for a long time.
Method 3 of 3: Using Medical Treatment
Step 1. Take a decongestant or antihistamine to clear the nasal passages
If you've lost your appetite because of a cold, flu, or seasonal allergies, you can try over-the-counter medications to open blocked nasal passages. This helps speed up the return of the closely related sense of smell and taste.
Decongestants are available in pill, liquid, and nasal spray forms. Some decongestants contain pseudoephedrine, which can be purchased without a prescription
Step 2. Get a prescription for antibiotics if you have a bacterial infection
Some conditions, such as bacterial sinusitis, as well as infections of the throat and salivary glands, can weaken the sense of taste. Consult a doctor and after the diagnosis, buy antibiotics to treat this condition and restore the sense of taste.
There is debate in the medical community about the need to take antibiotics as prescribed or stop when conditions improve. Since there is no clear consensus yet, ask your doctor how long you should take antibiotics and whether they should be continued once symptoms have subsided
Step 3. Visit an ENT specialist if your appetite has been lost for a long time
An ENT (ear, nose, and throat) doctor is a specialist in problems related to the ear, nose, throat, mouth, and larynx. If you're losing your appetite due to a cold or getting older, ask for a referral to an ENT doctor who can diagnose the extent of your loss of appetite and help you find treatment for the condition that's causing it.
- The ENT doctor will examine your ears, nose, throat, and mouth, as well as perform a taste test to determine the lowest concentration of taste quality you can detect. You may be asked to compare the taste of different concentrations of a chemical by taking a sip and then spitting it out, or a chemical that is applied directly to the surface of your tongue.
- Certain conditions, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis, and Bell's palsy, can cause a weakened sense of taste. So, you should be checked by a doctor if you have not been able to taste food for a long time.
Step 4. Change medication if advised by doctor
Sometimes, the loss of your sense of taste is caused by medications you are taking to treat other conditions. For example, chemotherapy for cancer can cause weakening or changes in the sense of taste. Consult a doctor about the possibility of changing the drug or changing the dose.
Step 5. Get medical treatment for nasal polyps
Loss of taste can sometimes be caused by polyps, which are soft, painless benign tumors that attach to the sinuses or nasal passages. Nasal polyps can be treated with medication, and for more persistent cases treated with surgery.
- Doctors can prescribe corticosteroids to shrink polyps and reduce inflammation.
- If medication doesn't work to reduce or eliminate nasal polyps, your doctor may perform endoscopic surgery. The surgeon will insert a tube with a camera into the nostril and use these small instruments to remove the polyp and possibly widen the opening from the sinuses into the nasal passages. This surgery is usually an outpatient procedure with a recovery time of about 2 weeks.
