SMELL & TASTE TESTS give you the confidence to make the best choices for the greatest benefit for your body!

SMELL YOUR VITAMINS? YES! TASTE YOUR MINERALS? YES!

Our senses interpret the world around us. The senses of smell and taste are referred to as the chemo-sensory system because they sense and interpret the chemistry of the environment. Smell and taste are the guardians of what we put into our bodies. Foods and nutrients are chemical recipes.

According to Edmund T. Rolls, Professor of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford, when you smell or taste any substance (or specific nutrient) you instantly get three key pieces of information. (1,2)

PLEASURE:  Is it pleasant or unpleasant.
IDENTITY:  What is this substance?
INTENSITY:  How strong or mild is it?

Identity is created from instinct and experience and includes an automatic rejection of anything rotten or foul. For example, one-day old babies will react negatively to rotten egg odors, even though they’ve had no prior exposure. . If an odor is unsafe, your instinct will move you away before you can identify it. If something tastes really bad, you spit it out.

Intensity is determined by concentration and strength.

The real magic happens in the perception of pleasure derived from an odor. This change in perception of a smell or taste is the basis for testing to determine need for specific nutrients.

Smell & taste information is translated directly into action: Eat it. Ignore it. Get away from it.

In-Between Pleasant and Unpleasant

Smell & taste and the perception of pleasantness are just the beginning of the story. (2) Research indicates that when you have a great need ( appetite) for a specific nutrient, that nutrient will smell or taste better than one you do not need. If you have too much of a nutrient, it smells or tastes unpleasant.(3,4,5) These changes in the status of need are reflected by the Autonomic Nervous System and throughout the whole body.(6,7,8)

Smell & Taste Testing

Preference testing uses this natural perception of a smell or taste response to estimate or gauge the need for a specific nutrient. Research has also shown that the human chemosensory system has multiple and distinct appetites for minerals, vitamins, amino acids and lipids (fats). (9,10) By isolating the nutrients, preferences for each specific nutrient can be measured and compared. By using the scoring system, individuals can identify, prioritize and track their needs. Preferences for supplements may also indicate dietary needs.

Crit Rev Neurobiol. 1997;11(4): 263-287 PMID 9336714
Chem Senses 26: 595-604, 2001 ) Edmund T. Rolls
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 1998 Sept;22(5):663-676 PMID 9662727
Physiol Behav. 1977 Nov;19(5):623-626 PMID 616294
Appetite. 2002 Feb; 38(1):29-38. PMID 11883915
Physiol Behav. 1998 Jan; 63(2):297-303 PMID9423972
Chem Senses. 2000 Dec;25(6): 709-718 PMID11114149(ANS)
Chem Senses. 2002 27; 703-709 (ANS)
AM J Physiol. 1993 Dec.:265(6 PT 2):R1480-4.PMID:8285293
Annu Rev Physiol. 1999;(61):873-900 PMID 10099714

© Timothy Cunningham 2007