I haven’t had a cigarette in almost 4 weeks. I had some minor emergency surgery, and since recovering I have had a bit of a paradigm shift in my lifestyle - not brought on by the sugery per se, more of a “this would be a good time to shift gears” sort of thing.
Anyway, I’ve noticed that, while some foods taste absolutely a squillion percent better since I’ve not been smoking, some taste mediocre or, in the case of some ravioli I attempted to eat yesterday, actually yukky.
That puzzles me because ravioli is one of those “kid foods” which I have continued to eat as an adult, and used to love.
Here are my questions: Did you experience a similar change in food tastes when you quit smoking? Does the effect lessen with time? Have you now started enjoying some foods which previously were yukky to you?
Thanks in advance ~
Background data: I smoked about a half a pack per night, for the last 3 or 4 years. Prior to that I’ve been a weekend night smoker (never on a weekday) for about the last 15 years. I’ve never been a daytime smoker. I’m 47 years old.
I’ve quit twice (it never seemed to stick) for several months. I noticed no change in taste/smell whatsoever, but I’ve always had an acute sense of smell, if that makes any difference (as a kid I’d smell things like watermelon or tortilla chips my mom was snacking on in the kitchen while I was in my bedroom with the door closed). I’m sure my sense of smell was impacted somewhat by my smoking, but it’s probably around “normal” now.
I’ve never smoked but grew up in two households where three of my four parents were heavy smokers and noticed I could taste and smell a lot more clearly when two of them stopped.
I certainly had a new appreciation for food. I had quit smoking for about three weeks and my wife brought home some canteloupes. I swear they tasted like candy. I went on and on about how wonderful and fresh they were, but she just got them at the grocery store and told me they tasted like regular canteloupes.
That goes away after a while and you get a “new normal” taste for food…
I quit my 2-pack-a-day habit in 1989. For a while, I noticed that some foods tasted different. The most surprising change in taste was milk: it tasted slightly bitter. I love milk, so I drank it anyway. Everything returned to normal gradually, and in six months my sense of taste was just as it had been in my early teens, when I was a nonsmoker.
I smoked for about 25 years. The only difference I noticed upon quitting is that I can no longer eat the Hot and Sour soup at Fu Lin’s without coughing.
I’ve noticed the milk thing, too. My SO says I’m crazy when I say the milk tastes off. I really don’t drink milk very much, so it is no big deal for me to skip it. One thing I have noticed is my cravings for sweets is much stronger than it was when I smoked (unfortunately for my weight). I quit 2.5 years ago.
It is (anecdotally) pretty common to experience a change in the taste of food after surgery which involves general anaesthesia. My anecdotes amount to it having happened to my mother in law, my father, me, and a couple of my friends. In every case it wore off after a couple of months or so. YMMV, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
Here are my questions: Did you experience a similar change in food tastes when you quit smoking? Does the effect lessen with time? Have you now started enjoying some foods which previously were yukky to you?
I’m smoking again now, alas. But when I managed to stay quit for a couple of years, I noticed that my previous quick and cheap lunch, Ichiban noodles, tasted terrible. Way too salty, and it just had a chemical taste.
Milk didn’t taste different to me, but I only have it in my (strong) tea. But cheese did. There was a funny, sour note to cheese, especially cheddar. When first opened, the cheese would smell and taste fine to me. But three days later, for example, even though it would be wrapped and refrigerated, it would taste off.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t feel the need to salt my food as liberally when I was not smoking. I didn’t have any new likes in food that I didn’t have before, except maybe appreciating non-processed foods more, and noticing the characteristics of heavily-processed foods more.
I quit smoking when I was pregnant, so the weird tastes probably don’t even count. In certain cases things tasted okay but smelled very weird to me (Quizno’s sandwiches). In other cases they just tasted bad (coffee) or like dirt (green beans, carrots)–or anyway, earthier than normal. Since I’m kind of a picky eater anyway, this wasn’t so good. Coffee got to be okay, and I ate the veggies anyway, it isn’t like I’m eating green beans and carrots for the wonderful taste anyhow, and I haven’t eaten at Quizno’s since (12 years).
taste has not changed much, although things like milk and chocolate did change in flavor at first as others have described. now, i can’t tell any difference.
the biggest change is the sense of smell. i smell things MUCH more strongly. cigarette smoke all but bowls me over, it’s so foul. now i understand why former smokers tend to complain about the odor!
