Improper diet causes loss of smell

Can a high-fat diet lead to a loss of smell? Researchers at Florida State University say yes. It turns out that a high-fat diet causes significant structural and functional changes in the olfactory system. Nicolas Thiebaud was the first to demonstrate a solid link between poor diet and loss of smell. This opens up many new avenues for obesity research. A diet high in fat causes olfactory disorders Dr. Thiebaud conducted a six-month study on mice. He fed them a high-fat diet and trained them to associate a specific scent with a reward (in this case, water). The mice fed the high-fat diet learned this association more slowly than the control group. Furthermore, when a new scent was introduced, the mice on the high-fat diet were unable to quickly adapt to the new environment. This, according to the researchers, indicates an olfactory impairment. Returning to healthy habits does not guarantee an improvement in your sense of smell More importantly, they found that when the rodents were returned to the control diet (their weight dropped and blood chemistry returned to normal), their olfactory abilities were still impaired. Co-author of the study, Professor Debra Ann Fadool, noted that mice exposed to the fatty diet had only 50% of their neurons capable of encoding olfactory signals. The American study launches a series of future studies. They plan to investigate whether physical activity can slow the effects of a high-fat diet on olfactory function, and whether a high-sugar diet will have the same consequences as a high-fat diet.