UPDATE: i could still fully taste fruit when i began preparing this blog entry last week, but during the past week am losing the taste for fruit also … i just get brief tantalizing tastes of a moment of two … then another moment.  But all the in-between is lost.  … and instead of the complex realm of a specific taste (like strawberry) i am getting the acid but some of the other tastes are gone, which totally changes the way a strawberry tastes.  Tremendously discouraging … altho not too surprising.  ***

Tru here.

i have always been VERY oriented to smell. 
As a child, my nose was used for sniffing out ants and several other things in the household. 
as i got older it was my privilege to create personalized fragrances for family members. 
Then came dementia symptoms, and after years some changes in my ability to smell.

i noticed a few scents that no longer had ANY smell for me. 
First was spoiled meat of the venison-type about 6 years ago (~57 years old)
then i lost the smell for 3 of the essential oils used in my personal fragrance about 4 years ago.
… then this, that, and any-other-thing (including body odor and ants, LOL). 

Now (in 2021) there are few smells that i can actually discern.  i realize those particular smells are also probably on short-term borrowed list, so those smells are highly valued.

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… and the same is true with tastes. 
About 3 years ago i noticed that i no longer appreciated that wonderful yeast-y taste — the smell and taste were just GONE. 
Then about a year ago i lost the taste of CHOCOLATE.
Noted no smell or taste for chicken beginning the first week of March, and hamburger shortly afterward,
Now … MOST tastes are gone.
i cannot smell or taste the standard varieties of meat, or eggs, or cheese, or gluten-free bread, etc
— but i can still smell and taste raisins, mandarin oranges, and strawberries.  

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So the main thing i still have is TEXTURE, and sensations of Sweet and Salty, along with dwindling taste for fruits.
i still enjoy the rough specific-ness of thick-cut oats (even though i no longer taste the oats) — so i add a few more raisins. 
i no longer TASTE the soup, but i still enjoy the wonderful combination of textures when my thick cauliflower soup is combined with hamburger crumbles., etc. 
i cannot taste the chocolate or the coffee in my coffee-chocolate protein drink, but
we still add the coffee because i get a brief after-taste of the cold-brew (not bitter)
and we still add the chocolate because i like the creamy smoothness of TEXTURE.

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This is a huge change of focus in eating, but it is also time to decide..

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Continue as before … OR make changes.

On special times (like breakfasts with Dad, after spending the night with him on the train engine) i would eat rich french toast made with thick-cut slices of bread or fluffy waffles.  Either were topped with hot fresh apple sauce and cold ice cream.  i have denied myself foods like this for about 10 years – because i have celiac disease and also going for the Keto LifeStyle (which better fits with my high needs for protein).  … But now i am quickly losing the receptors for tastes.

if i had known that i was this close to losing all taste sensations in the dementia process, i think i would have splurged more often in the past two or three years. 

if i had it to do over again, after losing 2 or 3 tastes, i would probably get glutened (on purpose) and start ENJOYING those tastes while i still had the ability to enjoy them (even at the cost of substantial gluten discomfort).  i realize the gluten TEMPORARILY intensifies cognitive symptoms for those with celiac disease … but this way i totally missed out on those tastes.

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So i have decided to get glutened AND splurge with blood sugar (within certain boundaries). 
it is time for evaluation of which tastes i am still able to enjoy – including those tastes from foods with gluten. 
Then i can better decide how often i will balance Best Practices … with taste desires.

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LINKS:

from a doctor >> https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/managing-your-memory/202103/when-dementia-diminishes-smell-and-taste ; 

Taste series:

Taste part 1: Loss of Smells and Taste at https://truthfulkindness.com/2021/08/08/re-heated-taste/ ;

Taste part 2: Re-Heated Taste at https://truthfulkindness.com/2021/08/08/re-heated-taste/ ;

Taste part 3: Taste Almost Gone at https://truthfulkindness.com/2022/03/27/food-taste/ .

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Might check out “Food/Eating” category of my favorite Links for strategies, alphabetically by symptoms at >> https://truthfulkindness.com/about/d-info/links-sx-strategies/ .

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