Smell this, taste that. (The Phys Ed of the Senses).
"A deficient sense of smell and taste also affects your nutrition, which affects your health and, in the long run, your physical fitness... and even your sexual relations."
Hello! I hope you are doing great. In this post, we will explore the senses of smell and taste, the connection between each other and with movement, and practices to potentiate, enhance, or rehabilitate them. If you want to learn more about your senses, from a Physical Education for Adults standpoint, make sure yo hit like, leave a comment, share, and if you haven't done so:
We often think of smell and taste as separate senses. The general assumption is that one pertains to the nose and the other to the mouth. But they go together like movement and thinking. One cannot happen without the other (if one gets affected, so does the other). More so, we assume these two senses are separate from movement, and it is difficult to find serious information that makes the connection. But there is a connection.
We go the extra mile to enjoy the smells and tastes we like, and I am not just talking about going to a restaurant or a perfume shop. Since the beginning of our species, we’ve learned to swim, cook, climb mountains and trees, and build distilleries to obtain flavors and smells. That is, besides the fact that the acts of smelling and tasting are movement and require muscular engagement and even calories.
Beyond moving towards or away from certain smells and tastes, the connection between movement and these two senses goes even deeper. For example, active people (exercise or otherwise) enjoy an elevated sensory fitness compared to more sedentary people1.
If you are a foodie (or a smell enthusiast) and want to be more active without focusing on weight loss or muscular fitness, this is a good reason. But don’t worry, I will not send you to the gym.
Physical activity is not only good for improving sensory fitness but also for rehabilitation. After suffering from COVID-19, a great amount of people who took Smell Retraining Therapy2 restored most, if not all, of their olfactory and gustatory senses. Yet, therapy, unless needed, may not be the only way to rehab your smelling and tasting systems.
I know someone who, after getting COVID-19, regained those two senses just by walking in nature (and exercising at home). Nowadays, she can enjoy family BBQs and her preferred snacks.
A deficient sense of smell and taste also affects your nutrition, which affects your health and, in the long run, your physical fitness. Not your gym and athletic performance, but your daily living performance, including your capacity to rest, learn, and even your sexual relations3 (yes, that too).
So, without further ado, here are six imaginary and sensory immersive activities to enhance these two senses:
Taste the Moment and recall vivid tastes and smells. This exercise helps heighten your awareness and stimulates neural connections.
Try to remember a tasteful experience that left you in awe. Think of a romantic dinner, your favorite dish from childhood, the decadent chocolate you ate when traveling someplace, or the deep flavor of your favorite fruit. What are the flavors you can remember vividly? What smells do you remember with precision?
Take a walk and smell nature. Foul smells included.
Walking in nature does more than relax your mind and connect with the wilderness. It also stimulates your smell receptors and your taste. As you walk in nature, embrace the smell of the flowers, the grass, the soil, the rain, and the dog poop as well. Ok, maybe you don’t enjoy that last one but do not avoid bad smells either since your olfactory receptors have no preferences, and variety is key. The senses are essential for survival, and limiting exposure to only the nice stuff limits your capacity. The more natural scents you expose your nose to, the better.
Guided Taste and Smell Meditation.
Find a podcast, YouTube channel, or blog that publishes about this. You’ll need to do some googling (take advantage of AI), but there are many posts about this matter. See the example below.
NOTE: Later, I will be exploring this idea at a deeper level. Make sure to subscribe to receive the notification.
Flavor and Smell Fusion Imagination.
This exercise helps open your mind and taste buds to different possibilities of flavor combinations.
Imagine how your favorite food could be combined with other flavors you don’t generally associate it with. Bacon Ice cream? Garlic Chocolate Chip cookies? Roasted corn pizza? Beer and chocolate pairing? And how about Hot dog sushi? How do you think these things would smell?
Imagine as many combinations as possible. Instead of thinking, “Ugh, that sounds nasty,” think of how interesting it could be. Remember, for this exercise, you are not actually tasting and smelling, just imagining.
Cook and explore unusual flavors and smells.
Beyond imagination, you can bring your flavor fusion to reality. Two great ways to do this are to cook and to expose yourself to new things.
Cooking: You make your own weird combinations. Visit that Asian or African market you pass by often (or the international aisle at your favorite supermarket) and buy something new to cook at home.
Exposing yourself: Try new snacks, seasonings, beverages, and recipes. By exposing yourself to flavors and cuisines you don’t normally eat, you are giving your tasting and smelling nerves a joyride.
For this, you need to get out of your comfort zone, and some things might not be your preference, but this will also increase your capacity. More so, it increases your experience and leads to what Bourdain called “happy accidents.”
"I'm a big believer in winging it. I'm a big believer that you're never going to find the perfect city travel experience or the perfect meal without a constant willingness to experience a bad one. Letting the happy accident happen is what a lot of vacation itineraries miss, I think, and I'm always trying to push people to allow those things to happen rather than stick to some rigid itinerary." - Anthony Bourdain
Get kinky. Ok, this is Phys Ed for Adults, so read me out.
Get a deep sniff of your partner and enjoy their taste. If exposing your taste and smell to different experiences helps refine them, intimacy is a great moment to do so. Your challenge will be to focus on the experience (not the sensation in you know where). This practice is also a wonderful exercise to connect with your partner and enhance your sensual experiences. Here are some examples:
Be adventurous and explore your partner’s natural scents and tastes. True, hygiene is important, but avoiding artificial aromas and flavors helps. Focus on the natural first.
Use aromatherapy and flavored (edible) creams. Besides natural smells and flavors, these can enhance the experience and add variety to our senses. Just be sure not to fall for the idea that if you don’t use these, you’ll have an unpleasant experience. Avoid smells that, while nice could be too intense.
Play with food. Whipped cream here, honey there, a shot of wine in the belly button, and even a massage with olive oil to lick it away can help. Your imagination is the limit. Be careful with spicy and hot food.
As you can see, you don't have to pay a gym membership to enhance or rehab your senses, and therapy (to a degree) can be self-applied. So, what are you waiting for? Get out there (or in bed) and smell this, taste that, and enjoy a better experience.
Have you done any of the things I mentioned above? Feel free to share your experiences and recommendations.
Gauthier, A.-C., Dupont, F., & Mathieu, M.-E. (2023). Association between physical activity and taste–The advantage of increased intensity for some but not all individuals. PLoS ONE, 18(12), e0295173–e0295173. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0295173
Smell Retraining Therapy - ENT Health. (2021, September 14). ENT Health. https://www.enthealth.org/be_ent_smart/smell-retraining-therapy/
Siegel, J. K., Kung, S. Y., Wroblewski, K. E., Kern, D. W., McClintock, M. K., & Pinto, J. M. (2021). Olfaction Is Associated With Sexual Motivation and Satisfaction in Older Men and Women. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 18(2), 295–302. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm.2020.12.002