Final answer:
Approximately 40% to 60% of people with COVID-19 experience anosmia, making food taste bland. The enjoyment of food is highly dependent on smell, and the loss of olfaction significantly impacts taste perception. Age also plays a role in changing tasting abilities and sense of smell, affecting food flavor perception.
Step-by-step explanation:
Approximately 40% to 60% of individuals experiencing symptoms from COVID-19 report that they cannot smell and/or taste food, a condition known as anosmia. This sensory loss can make food taste bland and may require additional spice and seasoning levels for food to be tasted. The enjoyment of food is largely based on our sense of smell, which works together with taste. The loss of olfaction (the sense of smell) can greatly reduce the sensory experience of food, limiting the perception of flavors to the five basic tastes sensed by the tongue. With the onset of COVID-19, anosmia has become a common symptom, and understanding its impact is crucial as it can affect nutrition and well-being.
Both tasting abilities and sense of smell change with age, usually declining significantly by age 50 and continuing to decline thereafter. This can affect how different age groups perceive the spiciness or flavorfulness of food. Additionally, anosmia can be related to psychological effects, including mild depression, due to the loss of enjoyment of food. As such, understanding these changes in gustatory and olfactory perception is important for health professionals when treating patients with COVID-19 or age-related sensory decline.