The olfactory senses simply refer to the sense of smell. It is the process involved in the act of smelling. Humans have simple noses with a weakly developed sense of smell compared to other mammals.
When you perceive any smell, the odor molecules from the substance get absorbed by the mucus in the nostrils. From there, it’s moved to the olfactory receptors, which then detects the smell and sends it to the olfactory bulbs. The olfactory bulb is underneath your brain, and above the nasal cavity. The smell signals are sent from the olfactory bulb to other parts of the brain to be interpreted as a smell you may recognize
The olfactory senses play a very important role in tasting. It’s impossible to know the taste of food when the olfactory senses are not working properly. Research has shown that the sense of smell is the closest sense to memory. This means that you will remember something quickly when you smell it, even more than when you see it, feel it or hear the sound of it. The olfactory senses have been discovered to be trainable. This means we can carry out measures to improve them. Some of the ways on how to improve the olfactory senses are listed below:
1. Quit smoking
If you want to improve your olfactory senses, it is imperative to quit smoking. Smoking destroys the sense of smell and impairs the sense of taste as well. Considering the close relationship between taste and smell, smoking has been discovered to hamper effective smelling. Lifestyle changes should be made to improve the Olfactory senses.
2. Smell things for long
When you sniff more than usual, you’re empowering your olfactory senses to have a better processing power. Smelling things for longer periods will simply boost the brain’s ability to recognize the smell and the memories associated with it. So if you want to improve the sense of smell, it’s advised to smell or sniff things longer than normal. Sniffing for longer periods can activate your brain’s ability to recognise smells that you know.
3. Take time to smell different things
By smelling different things you’re training the muscles of the olfactory senses to get stronger and better. When smelling things ensure you take them closer to your nose. This will increase the intensity of the odor emanating from it and improve your sense of smell. You can cultivate a conscious effort to smell every food before you eat them. You can as well smell nonfood items around you like grasses, oil, flowers, etc. There is no limit to the nature of things you can smell. The more things you smell, the more improved the olfactory senses get.
4. Describe the smell of everything you perceive
Research has shown that the more you try to describe the smell you perceive, the better the olfactory senses become when smelling other things. Describe with a short sentence. For instance, you can say “the smell of this grass is fresh and mildly refreshing.” Don’t describe with a single word like “mild” “minty” etc. Another way to improve your sense of smell is to close your eyes and try to identify an object by sniffing it.
5. Eat foods rich in vitamin B12
Many scientific studies have said that Vitamin B12 deficiency can affect olfactory function. Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to olfactory dysfunction or cause a partial or complete loss of smell.
Foods such as fish, egg, meat, and dairy products such as milk and yogurts are highly rich in vitamin B12. To improve the olfactory senses you have to eat foods rich in vitamin B12. L
The sense of smell doesn’t only smell. It performs a crucial role in taste, as well as detection of danger. People with a small or low sense of smell can follow all the aforementioned tips, on how to improve the olfactory senses in their quest to turn their situations around.
