Research
Adherence
Parosmia can cause severe food aversion and rapid weight loss due to the perception of common foods as having foul, metallic, or rotten odors.
If food smells or tastes rotten (parosmia), you may lose weight. Identify 'safe' foods that do not trigger the distortion (e.g., plain yogurt, cold fruits, bland staples). Eat small, frequent meals of these safe foods to maintain nutrition. Do not force yourself to eat foods that trigger nausea, as this can worsen the aversion.
ModerateSupportsMEDIUM confidence
All food tastes/smells just too disgusting to eat. Only yoghurt is ok. So I lose weight instead of gaining it.
Why this rating
Based on self-reported dietary changes in qualitative posts.
Source
Altered smell and taste: Anosmia, parosmia and the impact of long Covid-19
Duika Burges Watson et al. · PLoS ONE · 2021
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0256998
cross_sectional · n=9000Cited 207×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- Post-viral olfactory and gustatory dysfunction (anosmia/parosmia) causes significant nutritional insufficiency and weight dysregulation (gain or loss) due to altered flavor perception, appetite suppression, and food avoidance.Moderate
- Parosmia (distorted smell) leads to the consumption of highly processed, sugary, or fatty foods as a compensatory mechanism to achieve sensory satisfaction, potentially compromising diet quality.Moderate
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