The Nose Knows, For Now…

Close your eyes and taste a little vanilla and chocolate ice cream. “If you can’t taste the difference, you may have a problem,” he says. Or hold a pad soaked in rubbing alcohol just beyond your chin. If you can smell it, your sense of smell is probably fine.

According to The Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation, half of us will eventually lose some of our ability to discern scents, which might be a good thing depending on who/what you live with. Don’t freak! There are ways to train your nose out of this fate. One exercise where you thoughtfully sniff little jars of household scents multiple times a day has the added benefit of helping you feel like a cool scientist. (They don’t say anything about employing a blindfold, but surely it wouldn’t hurt?) Suggested smelly things include “clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, celery and carrots,” but what else?