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Food Help

Eating becomes a challenge when you have parosmia

Imagine, you are recovering from a common cold virus, then suddenly, your whole world changes.

Your chicken soup tastes and smells foul.

You can't stand the smell of your normal morning coffee.

You go out to lunch to your favorite restaurant and it has a disgusting unfamiliar stench.

You discover there are so many common foods that you used to enjoy are now intolerable.

What do you do? What do you eat?

Hot Coffee
Fried Donuts
Chocolate Chip Cookies

Foods that trigger distorted

smells & taste:

​

  • Beef (burgers, steak...)

  • Anything fried

  • Bacon

  • Eggs

  • Coffee

  • Chocolate

  • All Citrus

  • Watermelon

  • Mint (including mint toothpaste)

  • Onion, garlic

  • Cucumber

  • Pretzels

  • Tortilla chips, potato chips...

  • Peanuts & peanut butter

Orange Wedges
Gourmet Burgers
French Fries
Onion rings
peanuts
Plate of Nachos
Fried Chicken Wings

Tips & Tricks to make eating easier

....Try this instead of that....

Hot vs Cold

  • Cold or ice is always better than hot or steam

  • Instead of hot coffee or tea, try iced coffee or tea

iced coffee
ice
ice tea
vanilla
Vanilla Ice Cream
chocolate cupcake
Chocolate Truffles

Vanilla vs Chocolate

  • Vanilla anything is a better option than chocolate anything

  • Try white chocolate instead of any other chocolate

Texture, Texture, CRUNCH...

  • Don't forget about texture

  • Add something crunchy

  • Try granola

Cinnamon vs Mint

Instead of mint candy, gum

and toothpaste

try cinnamon flavor

granola
chipotle chile pepper

Cinnamon Update:

Cinnamon has changed for me. It's not as great as I previously praised it for. It's not bad, just OK. I have traded my cinnamon in for Chipolte chile pepper seasoning.

This is an example of the strange changes that can happen with parosmia.

Cinnamon Sticks

TIP!!!!

A little cinnamon in your coffee makes the coffee a little more palatable!! I think I may need to carry a small vial of cinnamon with me at all times.

YAY CINNAMON!!!

Use More Spice, Seasonings and Sauces

Disguise It

Cover up the

main protein (bad flavor)

with a sauce:

Spaghetti sauce, barbecue sauce, sweet & sour sauce, ketchup...

Read labels to insure that nothing from your bad list is included.

Example: onions and garlic in spaghetti sauce.

smoked paprika
seasonings and spices
sauces
Spices

What to eat
when your choices are limited

I eat mostly vegetarian meals now.

It's difficult to go anywhere to eat outside of my own home.

The most frustrating part is that my previously favorite food still taste wrong. Things don't taste the way they used to.

Eating is not enjoyable anymore.

My personal go to "meals"

  1. Ham & cheese on wheat bread with or without tomatoes and spinach

  2. A cheese sandwich

  3. Pizza (doesn't taste right)

  4. Vegetable soup

  5. Pasta salad

Quick Meals

  • Instant mashed potatoes

  • Instant oatmeal ​

Please Note:

Parosmia affects everyone differently. The suggestions on this website may not help everyone.

Soup

Use vegetable broth instead of chicken or beef broth/stock with small noodles like orzo and small frozen mixed vegetables.

Remember to take your daily Vitamins...
Pills on Spoons

Because if you're not eating a well balanced diet, you're probably not getting all the nutrients you need

Foods

that don't cause taste & smell distortions

Vegetables:

  • Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes

  • Yellow & Orange Peppers

  • Carrots

  • Broccoli

  • Tomato

  • Spinach

Fresh Veggies
Bread Basket

Grains:

  • Plain pasta & rice

  • Oats, Oatmeal

  • Honey wheat bread

  • Barley

Recipes

​Fruit:

  • Cranberry (fresh & dried) and Cranberry juice

  • Pineapple and Pineapple juice

  • Apples and Apple juice

  • Blueberry

  • Cherry

  • Peach

  • Grapes

  • Coconut

cherries

Protein:

  • Black beans, kidney beans...

  • Almonds & Pecans

  • Ham (It works for me)

  • Protein drinks

  • Salmon

salmon

Dairy:

  • Cheese (Mozzarella, Ricotta, Cheddar)

  • Butter

  • Milk

  • Yogurt

  • Ice Cream

Seasonings, Sauces & Flavorings:

  • Salt & Pepper

  • Chipotle Chile Pepper (sweet & smokey)

  • Salad Dressing

  • Sweet & Sour Sauce

  • Spaghetti Sauce

  • Barbecue Sauce

  • Honey

  • Vanilla

  • Cinnamon

  • Caramel/Salted Caramel

Salt and Pepper
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