Coffee or chocolate disgusts you after eating covid? These researchers understand why!

A well-known side effect of Covid-19 is the loss of the sense of smell sometimes, when the taste returns, parosmia, this disorder that completely changes certain smells. These can become intolerable for people with this rare disorder.

Little parosmia was studied after Covid, and it was the subject of a study by three British researchers that made it possible to identify the molecules at the origin of evil.

Jane Parker and Kristen Kelly of the University of Reading and Simon Jane of University Hospital London published the preliminary results of their study on the Nature website in the journal. Communication medicine. Peer-reviewed study.

disturbed signal to the brain

For these British researchers, “certain highly odorous molecules are the cause of parosmia symptoms in most cases and initiate a feeling of disgust, suggesting that parosmia is, at least in part, a phenomenon located at the receptor level.”

Thus, for coffee, which has been the subject of most of the study, it is certain molecules present in the aroma that cause this disgusting effect. In the presence of these molecules, the receptors in the nose transmit a nerve signal to the brain that is completely different from what it should be.

Usually, coffee and chocolate are the products that dramatically alter the flavor perception for people with parsmia, but according to the study, with Covid, meat, onions, garlic, eggs and even toothpaste change their taste or smell dramatically for some people. .

Ultimately, contrary to what has often been imagined, “post-Covid parosmia is not a psychological effect but is caused by certain substances determined differently by the nervous system.”

It now remains to understand the mechanisms by which the Covid virus causes this disorder. As for the British researchers’ discovery, it will be possible to develop diagnostic tools, and possibly treatments.