Heightened sense of smell

(Douglas) #1

I am on day 2 of an extended fast. Today at work, I noticed I could smell things I normally would not notice. For instance, the person in the cube on the other side of mine was eating a bag of Cheetos. I could smell them like I was eating them myself. I smelled all sorts of things people were eating around the office, and even some not so pleasant personal odors from co-workers. Quite an unexpected side effect.
Anyone else experience this on a fast?

(Autumn Sangra) #2

All my senses are heightened when extended fasting.

(Mike W.) #3

I’ve noticed an increased sense of smell since starting Keto in general.

(Michelle) #4

Hi - yes, I have noticed an increase in my sniffer as well just by being on keto. As a former smoker, my sense of smell was not great. It’s really improved.

I bet with an extended fast, it’s even better!! Amazing how your body repairs itself during fasting.

(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #5

Most certainly. I can smell if someone has anything sweet like a soda or fruit in the room now.

(Jonathan Walz) #6

Oh yes, it happens to me any time I fast for more than about 48 hours or so.

(Lee Ann) #7

I am not on a fast, but this smell thing is making me crazy. I smell fishy smells. I am 4 weeks in, and it began on Sunday. I thought the man talking to me had bad breath. I went outside later, and smelled it again. The past few days, I get a whiff occasionally.

YES, I am clean, as are my clothes. And, it isn’t my breath. My husband and I are brutally honest about oral hygiene. Just the strangest thing.

(Tom) #8

My sense of smell is definitely heightened. I noticed it today walking past Maccas, a cookie store, and an ice cream shop. Sugary cinamonny vanillary deep fried doughnutty sorts of smells that I haven’t consciously noticed before.

And the best bit? They were vaguely pleasant smells but I felt no cravings whatsoever and was able to walk swiftly by. :sunglasses:

(Becky) #9

Yes, I’ve noticed that as well. I can totally identify what food I’m smelling, enjoy it, but have absolutely no craving for it. Although the smell of mandarin oranges definitely causes my attentionto linger…lol.

#10

My girlfriend hates it when I fast because if she eats even the smallest amount of garlic I can smell it on her from a mile away. Also, I have a coworker with less than ideal hygiene…he’s made some of my longer fasts a real challenge. But yes, overall the senses are heightened.

(Shari Lindsay) #11

I was on my third week of this diet and my sense of smell was unbelievable heightened until I became nauseated :nauseated_face:. It was to the point that I actually took off work Friday because lunch time at work drove me crazy and all I wanted to do was :face_vomiting::face_vomiting::face_vomiting::face_vomiting::face_vomiting:. I am no longer on the diet, but I am going to continue with watching what I eat.

(Tara) #12

Yes, I also have a heightened sense of smell. It never makes me sick. I actually appreciate it. It comes in handy when my toddler puts something in his mouth and I can quickly identify what it is… he has some severe food allergies so I have to be cautious.

(Bunny) #13

Not a LCHF Keto\fasting etc… diet but shows the contrast between HCHF diet and how the olfactory nerves are connected and respond to diet and metabolic physioneurochemistry! What they trying to say here is that the so called “bad high fat diet (HCHF)” inhibits sense of smell (which we know is bull-oney when it comes to LCHF)…

New research links bad diet to loss of smell Date: July 21, 2014 “…Mice that were fed the high-fat diets were slower to learn the association than the control population. And when researchers introduced a new odor to monitor their adjustment, the mice with the high-fat diets could not rapidly adapt, demonstrating reduced smell capabilities. …” ”…Thiebaud led the study in the lab of Biological Science Professor Debra Ann Fadool. Their work is published in the Journal of Neuroscience and shows that a high-fat diet is linked to major structural and functional changes in the olfactory system, which gives us our sense of smell. …” …More

…too bad they did not try keto with the mice?

(Newimprovedme ) #14

I notice the same thing when I fast…better sense of smell.
I’ve been doing OMAD for about a week(along with Keto of course)…yesterday I could not find my readers and I picked up my phone to read a text…and I could read it!! I was surprised and hope my eyesight keeps improving.

(jamie walker) #15

Yes I notice the sharper sense of smell, very nice now in autumn with walks in the woods. 3 weeks in, 2nd try.

(Melissa Mocciola) #16

Yea, definately noticed a heightened sense of smell since fasting. It has almosy been 48 hrs of complete water fasting and everything smells so powerful. It actually got so bad today I almost got sick but it was only because I had to sit behind someone who legit smelled like an old dirty litter box. I have noticed though that even when smelling good food Im kinda satisfied to just smell it and the only time I actually crave it is when I allow myself to remember what it was like to eat it.

(Carl Keller) #17

I wonder if fasting triggers primitive body responses in order to motivate one’s self to get food. Imagine it’s 100,000 years ago and you haven’t eaten for 3 days. Your body is like “here have some extra adrenaline and clearer thinking and let’s boost your sense of smell. Now go hunt us something to eat!”.

(Alexandra Barron) #18

I agree. I think that’s exactly what it is. I spent one night being able to smell my cat’s food the entire night. I was in bed with my door locked and the cat’s food was two rooms away. It was like my body was saying, “Hey, we haven’t eaten for a while, how about some of that yummy cat food in the kitchen, why don’t we go get that?”

(Paul Rose) #19

Yes, I was using a liquid stylus cleaner on my hifi and got like a nail varnish smell from it. Never noticed it before and have been using it for years. Also the music is clearer and more coherent. I wonder if being 6 says carnivore has had this effect on my senses.