Simple Tips to Naturally Improve Your Sense of Smell

There is nothing quite like the smell of bread or cookies, baking in the oven.  The scent of a freshly cut lawn or a fragrant hayfield can trigger happy memories of childhood.  The sense of smell affects many aspects of our lives, most of which we are unaware.  In addition to helping stimulate memory, our sense of smell also helps us to taste things properly.  If your sense of smell is not up to par, such as when you have a cold, it will affect your taste buds and spoil your enjoyment of eating.

However, your sense of smell can actively be developed, just as a wine connoisseur can develop their taste palette.  If you feel like your sense of smell isn’t what it used to be, here are a few tips to develop your ‘fifth sense.’

First, the physical factors.  If you smoke, you should stop, not just because it’s bad for your health, but it can affect your sense of smell, and even your taste.  It’s a little known fact, but drinking too much alcohol can alter your sense of smell, as well (besides destroying your liver).  If you cannot live without your daily dose of caffeine, switch to tea, as coffee is known to blunt your taste buds and numb your sense of smell.

To naturally improve your sense of smell, you can add more zinc to your diet.  You can also try a homemade remedy of sniffing something that has a strong and pleasant odor several times each day.  Put a couple of scented candles or pots of essential oils beside your workstation at your desk, and enjoy sniffing them whenever you’d like to take a mental break from your work.

Begin breathing through your nose instead of only your mouth, as some people do.  This will strengthen your sense of smell by exercising it more.  Using a humidifier in the home can even help to improve things by cleansing your nose.  Try using it while you sleep.

When you smell something, such as a flower, take short, shallow, gentle sniffs rather than one long harsh inhalation.  When you watch animals, they sniff in the same way, and it can help the brain to identify the source of the smell more easily.  It sounds funny, but taking one big sudden sniff can overpower your brain, and quickly make your nose go numb to the smell.  This is why it’s a good idea to take a small pot full of coffee beans with you when you go shopping at the perfume store.  By sniffing the coffee beans between scents, you’ll clear your ‘nasal palette,’ and reset your brain to get it ready for the next scent.

If you find that you are having more serious problems with your sense of smell, you can talk with your physician to see if there is a deeper problem.  Often, sinus problems left unchecked can dull your sense of smell over time.  Losing your sense of smell completely is also cause for a visit to your doctor, especially if you have no other obvious symptoms such as a cold.