More often people tend to go for the physical appearance of the food rather than choosing to concentrate on the taste and the smell of the food. Most people think that the physical appearance of the food is what matters to them but not the smell of the same delicacies (Small, 2008). One surprising fact is that both smell and taste of food have an impact on the health and behavior pattern of the consumers. For instance, those who have consumed Alzheimer’s will agree that its consumption may lead to revealing some of the mysteries that lie behind such food products. The same applies to those who have consumed Parkinson’s since they all belong to the same category of food products. Apart from that, there is the genetic difference in food products that may also lead in different consumption patterns for different people. Additionally, such consumption patterns may also determine how well the metabolism process of individuals does work. Research also has it that the eating habits of individuals are what could be used to determine whether they are overweight or otherwise.
The sense of taste and smell do work in collaboration with another in a way that creates sensation that is beyond the understanding of a layman (Delwiche, 2005). It istrue that most people would readily create a judgment on any food product based on the smell first and then followed closely by the taste. However, what should be used to distinguish between various flavors of food is the aroma of the food. The basic tastes such as bitter, sour and salty also play a part in making judgment on a food product but they are not the main factors to be taken into consideration. The taste and smell of food products create a combination in the brain which eventually results in the creation of the perception of whether the food has a certain flavor or not.
When preparing food, it would make more sense to concentrate on the smell of the food rather than concentrating on the taste. The two terms are often used interchangeably by most people depending on the definitions of individuals. A bigger percentage of people would define taste as the sensation that they experience during periods when they consume the food or whatever drinks that they use. The smell of the same food products however, takes a larger portion of what the consumer’s experience. Scientifically, taste would be defined as the sensation that the food consumers experience when they stimulate what is known as taste receptor cells. On the other hand, the smell of the food products is felt when the olfactory neuron gets stimulated when consuming food.The two types of receptor cells are all different from one another and they play independent roles in determining the taste of food products. In the process of making a meal, I would rather use the smell receptors as the determinant factors in preparing a delicious meal.
A good majority of the food consumers would be attracted to eat the food based on what they are able to smell before having a taste of the food. If the aroma is good enough then anyone would want to have a taste of the food (Small, 2008). The reverse is true in case the smell of the food is not attractive enough. In eating the food, different consumers may have different opinions depending on the taste buds of such persons. Whatever one considers beingsweet food may not necessarily be sweet to the next person. However, a good aroma remains to be universal to all people irrespective of their smell receptors. Most of the flavors that people get from food is brought about by the ability to smell the food (Small, 2008). It can therefore be said that a person who does not have the smell receptors may not be able to know and distinguish between different flavors. The flavor of a food product is brought about by the combination of different sensations that one experiences whenever they eat or consume a drink.
Whenever an individual holds their breath while eating, they may not be able to get the taste of that food because the nasal passage gets blocked from receipting the taste. On the other hand, such an individual will be able to get the taste in the event that they are given a chance to chew the food while they breathe in air. Once the air is allowed to flow through the nasal passage then the smell of the food is carried alongside the smell of the food such making it possible for the consumer to be able to get the smell of the food. When one does not experience the interplay between the air rushing in through the nasal passage and the food being chewed in the mouth then one cannot know the flavor of the food (Delwiche, 2005). The only thing that such a person will be able to experience is the taste of the food that is determined and grasped by the tongue. The food consumer will only be able to know whether the food is salty, bitter or sour.
When a person has cold, it becomes difficult for them to know the flavor of food since their air nasal is blocked. The smell of the food therefore, does not get to travel past the air nasal to the receptors that determine the smell of the food. That is why whenever one suffers from cold they are not able to get the smell of food due to the blockage that takes place in the receptor cells.
Smell and memory have an interconnection that links one to the other and a loss of any of them can be very devastating. In certain instances, food may fail to taste good because the consumers have a feeling that they lack the emotional connection they used to experience before. A good example of that is the smell that women experience whenever they are with their romantic partners. Once a woman learns the smell of her partner, then whenever they get close to such a partner, he woman feels emotionally attached. The same happens to anyone whenever their senses get intertwined with the environments in which they live or the events they attend.
The loss of a sense of smell can be the first symptom that the victim suffers from diseases such as Parkinson’s. In most cases, the viruses and prions causing the disease gets into the body through the nose before the toxins travel to the brain where they damage the sensitive organ. Once the brain is damaged then it means that the cells connecting the smell cells to the brain will also get damaged. The emotional attachment one gets to certain food products will also get damaged in the course.
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