By Michelle Pugle, Medically reviewed by Sameena Zahoor, MD
A loss of taste (aguesia) is a common COVID-19 symptom that can last anywhere from moments to months. Along with looking at why COVID causes loss of taste, researchers are exploring what to expect when trying to get your taste back and ways to stimulate taste buds and the olfactory system post COVID.
This article details steps to get your taste back post-COVID, foods to restore COVID loss of taste, loss of taste timeline, and reasons why taste may not be coming back after COVID.
Steps to Get Your Taste Back Post-COVID
The steps to get your taste back after having COVID-19 include smell training. That’s because the way we taste is linked to the way we smell. Taste buds contain taste cells or gustatory cells on the tongue, roof of mouth, and throat lining. When stimulated, these cells send messages through taste nerves to the brain for identification.
Any blockage from a respiratory infection like COVID-19 can impair the senses of taste and smell.12 This is why a decreased sense of taste may occur alongside decreased or loss of smell.
The following are steps to getting your taste back after COVID:
Try Smell Retraining
Smell, or olfactory, retraining may assist with taste loss recovery. Smell training stimulates the olfactory nerves, and can be done daily using potent aromas like those from essential oils or favorite highly aromatic foods to help stimulate the memory. Experts say to smell each essential oil twice a day for six weeks.3
‘Smell Training’ Could Help People Who Lost Their Sense of Smell From COVID-19
Practice Mindfulness
Not being able to taste may be incredibly frustrating, which is where mindfulness may help. Mindfulness is a cognitive skill used to remain fully present and aware of the current moment. While smell retraining, use mindfulness to focus on what you can taste instead of what you can’t. Try focusing in particular on basic flavors such as bitter, sweet, sour, salty, and umami.4
Add Texture
Texture plays a significant role in how we experience food. Adding different textures into the same dish can help keep food appetizing when you can’t taste.5 Focusing on textures can also be a tool in practicing mindfulness to help get back taste after COVID.4
Losing Your Sense of Smell Is No Longer a Reliable Sign of COVID
Stay Hydrated
Dry mouth can be a symptom of COVID, and it can also interfere with your ability to taste food and drink. To relieve dry mouth, ensure you’re consuming enough water throughout the day. You can also try stimulating the taste buds with something sour or tart, like lemon juice.6
Keep It Interesting
There are ways to keep the process of trying to get taste back post-COVID interesting (and appetizing). For example, using different temperature combinations, like pairing a hot sandwich with a cold salad, can also help make food more appealing when you have COVID loss of taste.5
Foods to Restore Post-COVID Loss of Taste
The best foods to restore post-COVID loss of taste are aromatic, flavorful, and foods that you enjoy or have a particular positive association with. Common examples are:456
- Peanut butter
- Ginger, peppermint, and other spices
- Lemon and other sour and tart foods
- Dark chocolate and other bitter foods
- Fresh herbs like cilantro and rosemary
- Strong seasonings like garlic, onion, and chili powder
Essential oils that are commonly used in smell training include:5
- Rose
- Citronel (citrus or lemon)
- Eucalyptus (eucalyptol)
- Cinnamon
Regaining Smell After COVID-19: What Can You Do?
COVID Taste Timeline
Recovering your sense of taste post-COVID may not be linear, and you could regain your sense of taste and lose it again.7
Generally speaking though most people will make a full recovery within six months, according to an analysis of sense of taste recovery rates in people with COVID published in 2022.8 Researchers found 79% of patients were expected to recover their taste at the 30-day mark following initial infection.
They also found recovery rates rise each passing month and peak at 98% of people recovering their sense of taste at the six-month mark. The analysis involved 3,699 people with COVID-19 from 12 countries. The same analysis found that self-reported taste loss may persist in around 4.4% of cases.8
Taste Not Coming Back After COVID
Researchers in the above study noted that the loss of taste due to COVID-19 was caused by either a loss of flavor perception (a function of the olfactory system) or a true loss of taste (gustatory dysfunction).8
See a healthcare provider if steps to get your taste back post-COVID and other at-home methods aren’t working after several months. They may refer you to an ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, called an otolaryngologist.
Importance of Taste
Losing your sense of taste can negatively impact your life in several ways. Experts say the ability to taste provides protection from spoiled food or drink and a loss of taste can lead to serious health issues.2
For people in the culinary industry who depend on their sense of taste to guide their work, including recipe creation and food safety, the loss of taste can be career-changing.
Experts say distorted taste or loss of taste may be a risk factor for illnesses that require sticking to a therapeutic diet such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes.2
Loss of taste can also contribute to problems associated with:29
- Malnutrition
- Immune system dysfunction
- Loss of appetite and under eating
- Mood and mental health changes
- Depression (in severe cases)
COVID-19 Treatments: What You Need to Know
Summary
Getting your taste back after COVID is possible. Most people will experience a full recovery within a few months. Others may want to consider at-home remedies for getting taste back after COVID. Smell retraining, practicing mindfulness, and eating meals with a variety of textures and temperatures may help.
If you’ve tried to regain taste to no success, see a healthcare provider. Untreated or ongoing loss of taste is associated with physical and mental health complications—but there is hope. A specialist can determine the best next steps.