The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food
Olfactory dysfunction often has severe consequences on patients’ quality of life. The most common complaint in these patients is their reduced enjoyment of food in both patients with olfactory loss and parosmia. How the different types of olfactory dysfunction differ in relation to food and cooking...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-06-01
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| Series: | Foods |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/12/1686 |
| _version_ | 1827660359711850496 |
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| author | Alexander Wieck Fjaeldstad Barry Smith |
| author_facet | Alexander Wieck Fjaeldstad Barry Smith |
| author_sort | Alexander Wieck Fjaeldstad |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Olfactory dysfunction often has severe consequences on patients’ quality of life. The most common complaint in these patients is their reduced enjoyment of food in both patients with olfactory loss and parosmia. How the different types of olfactory dysfunction differ in relation to food and cooking habits, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life has not yet received much attention. By applying questionnaires on cooking, food, olfactory function, weight changes, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life, we investigated how various aspects of eating differ between participants with olfactory loss (<i>n</i> = 271), parosmia (<i>n</i> = 251), and normosmic controls (<i>n</i> = 166). Cooking habits in olfactory dysfunction revealed pronounced differences as compared with normosmic controls. Cooking with olfactory dysfunction was associated with, e.g., a lack of comfort and inspiration for cooking and an inability to make new foods successfully. Significant differences in cooking were also found between olfactory loss and parosmia. Food items were less familiar in participants with olfactory loss and parosmia, while the ratings of liking food items differed between olfactory loss and parosmia, indicating the importance of adapting ingredients in meals separately for olfactory loss and parosmia. Parosmia was associated with a higher incidence of weight loss, but we found no difference in food-related quality of life between participants with olfactory loss and parosmia. While olfactory loss and parosmia have wide-ranging consequences on patients’ cooking and food habits, adapting meals to include ‘safer food items’ and integrating multisensory stimulation may be a possible avenue for improving the enjoyment of food. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:49:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-586b0d4658c64ca5bd895926bf066db9 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:49:39Z |
| publishDate | 2022-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-586b0d4658c64ca5bd895926bf066db92023-11-23T16:37:26ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582022-06-011112168610.3390/foods11121686The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of FoodAlexander Wieck Fjaeldstad0Barry Smith1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Clinic for Flavour, Balance and Sleep, Regional Hospital Gødstrup, Hospitalsparken 15, 7400 Herning, DenmarkCentre for Olfactory Research and Applications, Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London, London WC1E 7HU, UKOlfactory dysfunction often has severe consequences on patients’ quality of life. The most common complaint in these patients is their reduced enjoyment of food in both patients with olfactory loss and parosmia. How the different types of olfactory dysfunction differ in relation to food and cooking habits, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life has not yet received much attention. By applying questionnaires on cooking, food, olfactory function, weight changes, sensory awareness, and food-related quality of life, we investigated how various aspects of eating differ between participants with olfactory loss (<i>n</i> = 271), parosmia (<i>n</i> = 251), and normosmic controls (<i>n</i> = 166). Cooking habits in olfactory dysfunction revealed pronounced differences as compared with normosmic controls. Cooking with olfactory dysfunction was associated with, e.g., a lack of comfort and inspiration for cooking and an inability to make new foods successfully. Significant differences in cooking were also found between olfactory loss and parosmia. Food items were less familiar in participants with olfactory loss and parosmia, while the ratings of liking food items differed between olfactory loss and parosmia, indicating the importance of adapting ingredients in meals separately for olfactory loss and parosmia. Parosmia was associated with a higher incidence of weight loss, but we found no difference in food-related quality of life between participants with olfactory loss and parosmia. While olfactory loss and parosmia have wide-ranging consequences on patients’ cooking and food habits, adapting meals to include ‘safer food items’ and integrating multisensory stimulation may be a possible avenue for improving the enjoyment of food.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/12/1686olfactory lossparosmiafood likingcooking |
| spellingShingle | Alexander Wieck Fjaeldstad Barry Smith The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food Foods olfactory loss parosmia food liking cooking |
| title | The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food |
| title_full | The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food |
| title_fullStr | The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food |
| title_short | The Effects of Olfactory Loss and Parosmia on Food and Cooking Habits, Sensory Awareness, and Quality of Life—A Possible Avenue for Regaining Enjoyment of Food |
| title_sort | effects of olfactory loss and parosmia on food and cooking habits sensory awareness and quality of life a possible avenue for regaining enjoyment of food |
| topic | olfactory loss parosmia food liking cooking |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/11/12/1686 |
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