Lost Your Taste to COVID-19? Do This, and Get It Back?

Are you one of the lucky ones who has had COVID-19 and survived, but you're suffering from a loss of taste? Believe it or not, we might have found a way for you to get your taste back, and I saw it work first-hand for my wife.

Back in December, my wife and daughter, and I had COVID-19. We each had different symptoms, but in the end, we were very lucky as none of us ended up in the hospital. However, nearly a month later, we all have unique lingering symptoms that others say could end up lasting for a very long time.

In the case of my wife, she has lost he sense of smell and taste.

Recently, my wife and daughter found a Jamaican recipe that claims it can restore a person's sense of taste. So, they gave it a try because it was actually pretty simple. All you need is an orange, two teaspoons of brown sugar and a flame for preparation.

We used our gas stove and an open flame, placing the orange on the stove's grill and turning it until it's completely blackened. believe it or not, the picture above is a blackened ripe orange. It takes about 5 minutes to accomplish this with a gas stove and it does create a little smoke and "burn" aroma in the room. You should be sure to turn on your ventilation fan.

Once you've completed the blackening step, the recipe claims it's important to peel the orange immediately while it's still hot.

Carefully peel the orange and have a bowl ready nearby.

After the orange is peeled and while it's still hot, you should mash it in a bowl and then mix in the 2 teaspoons of brown sugar.

Once it's all mixed together, the person who has lost their sense of taste needs to eat the simple concoction.

Now, it's as simple as eating it.

My wife reported that she could taste the orange and brown sugar and said it was actually delicious.  She then tried tasting a glass of red wine (which every teacher needs in these days of COVID remote learning) - and she was able to actually taste the wine. She followed the wine up with chocolate, which she said she could taste perfectly!

"This is the first time I've been able to taste anything since before Christmas," she said.

This test was conducted at around 8 p.m. on Thursday, January 14, 2020. The real test will be if she retains her ability to taste through the night and into tomorrow, Friday morning. We'll have a full report just after the 8 a.m. news on Friday morning for the big reveal.

Update: Friday, 10:00 a.m. 

As of Friday morning, my wife was still able to taste foods. "This is the first time since before the holidays that I've actually been able to taste my coffee."