Page 68 - The Miracles of Smell and Taste

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As we know, appeti-
zing smells encourage peo-
ple to eat and drink. Indeed,
people who lose their sense of

smell have no great desire for
food. 58 Remember times when
you had a cold or the flu? Your meals
had no flavor at such times because scent
molecules failed to reach the scent preceptors—for which reason your
sense of smell was temporarily lost.
To make this easier to understand, blindfold friends and block up
their nostrils, and then ask them to place first, a slice of potato and next,
a slice of apple on their tongues. Your friends will be unable to tell which
is which, because both cause a mild sweet sensation. It is possible for your
friends to give the right answer only if they start chewing, because that
will release scent particles that float up through the back of the mouth to
reach the scent region in the nose. Potato and apple will then become ap-
parent.