Sad COVID Boy Hank Green Eats Foods He Hates but Can't Taste

So I have COVID and it sucks a lot but I figured I'd try some of my least favorite foods before I (hopefully very soon) regain my ability to smell. Turned out fantastic, honestly. 10 out of 10, would do all of this again (except the anchovies.)
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[@vlogbrothers]

Not pictured in this video is the part where, when I was cleaning up, i spilled sardine oil on my carpet. Does my entire office smell like fish now?? I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!

[@jasonpost913]

Almost definitely. And it will probably smell like that until the carpet is replaced. Luckily you don't know. Hopefully /unfortunately you will likely regain the ability to smell it.

[@EcceJack]

Ahahaha! Oh dear.... I wish you a speedy recovery!

[@edengoodiel2229]

I haven’t had my sense of smell since I was 16 because of a bad sinus infection, and I have to say this comment is the exact thought I have EVERY SINGLE DAY does this basement smell like a bunch of 15 year old boys had a diaper throwing party? I’ll never know! It’s a blessing and a curse

[@icequeen9]

Pour some baking soda on that spot my dude and let it absorb as much oil as it can. Then scrape it up gently (without pushing the oil into the carpet fibres) and do it again. Then you're gonna wanna agitate the carpet and blot with soapy water over and over until you've got the smell out, so that part might be someone else's job. Good luck! Edit: you can leave the baking soda for hours or days on any spill, it won't hurt anything.

[@burnyizland]

Oh. NO. You need an enzyme killer or that is never going to stop smelling. We use something called Orderly but I'm in Canada so I don't know if you get that there. There are lots of different brands anyway, that part isn't the important bit, but an enzyme killer is what you want. I seem to have the same palate as you do normally and my partner loves all the things you just ate, but I will say there is ONE pickle I like. Bic's Garlic Baby Dills. Also, RIPE black olives packed in WATER instead of brine are actually very nutty/fatty/yummy and NOT overly salty or bitter or weird. Unico is my go-to brand for that and recently I've tried others that were terrible. Again, not sure what you can get there. You have me intrigued about blue cheese for the first time! Thank you - as someone who has health problems that seem insurmountable myself, it really helps me seeing you soldier on through yours. I hope you feel better soon - and it stays that way! :)

[@WaldoHandFord]

This man ate pickles, black licorice, blue cheese, anchovies, olives and olives stuffed with blue cheese within the span of a few minutes for our entertainment. Fortunately Hank can't smell his breath for the time being.

[@MariposaRedimida]

EW!

[@IceMetalPunk]

But Katherine can!

[@rafaelah1492]

without drinking water in between

[@k8eekatt]

my mouth is watering hahaha

[@rawanthebookworm1536]

Sending a ton of respect to Kathrine who unfortunately can smell his breath 😂😂

[@DangitLacie]

"That's clearly an ingredient." Not me, sitting here, remembering a moment in time years ago when I went into a thrift shop and the woman working there was going ham on a can of anchovies. No crackers. Nothing. Just a fork, and her can of anchovies.

[@richbabushka2752]

😆😅

[@georgiam4725]

My boyfriend does this. If we make pizza he insists on putting anchovies on his. There are too many in the can for him to fit on a reasonable sized pizza so he just eats the rest with his hands. He’s like a freaky man sized sphinx cat with opposable thumbs.

[@Adakechi]

I am infamous within my friend group for slamming a can of anchovies. My girlfriend sent me a can of anchovies in a care package. I love anchovies. I just avoid eating them around people, for their sake.

[@writerchick94]

A lot of people do that

[@kinggrimm2700]

I was my drama teacher eat rice cakes, chocolate spread and tuna

[@loafbyRYE]

Losing my sense of smell was SO weird. I tested it by smelling eucalyptus oil, and I couldn’t smell it but I COULD feel my airways opening up. Super weird.

[@blackrose86lh]

I realized I lost mine when eating cool ranch Doritos.. so then I grabbed a cinnamon yankee candle and confirmed it was gone.

[@WintaAssefa]

Woah. Sounds trippy

[@sarjulia]

You should have tried peppermint. The ear-nose-throat specialist I saw to try and figure out if there was a way of getting my sense of smell back told me that we don't "smell" peppermint: we perceive it directly with a nerve at the back of our nostrils. He said that the easiest way to find out whether someone is pretending to have lost their sense of smell is to ask if they can recognise the smell of peppermint. If they say no, it means they're bluffing. Fascinating.

[@SylviaRustyFae]

Ive nvr had a very strong sense of smell in general (except for noticin smells i cant stand; mostly strong perfumes which they intentionally make extra smelly) and rly dont think about smell much at all... And yet, id still be very thrown thru a loop by not havin that sense of smell anymore, even if only temporary.

[@raegune]

Yeah, I was straight huffing vick's vaporub and getting nothing from it aside from a tingle in my sinuses. Super weird indeed!

[@LoverOfStuff]

I was born without smell and seeing COVID sufferers develop anosmia is really interesting to me. It’s like watching people step into your world and finally understand your point of view. 10/10 video

[@braveasanoun5732]

Same! It also helps me grasp how much I'm really missing out on, because I don't really have a point of reference.

[@atriyakoller136]

I've been on both ends of the spectrum, almost completely anosmiac for the first 10-12 years of my life (I could smell things but had to be really close to most things, I couldn't smell perfume when people wore it when everyone else around me could, then, at 20-22ish I developed hypernosmia - it was fun getting near a shelf with vacuum-packed foods in an open refrigerator with my eyes closed and picking the freshest object because I could literally smell it from a few meters away. It's faded into slightly sensitive nose now, so my only problem is basically the people on public transport who don't know what a shower is - I can smell them from pretty far away and it's hella annoying

[@Stephofcourse]

Honestly for me I never lost my sense of smell, but I did start having phantom smells. It honestly scared me because a lot of time I would smell smoke or gasoline and think something was on fire lol

[@scrunt62]

@@Stephofcourse Thats crazy!! I get phantom smells too. I'm a germaphobe, I get phantom smells of cat pee. IMO it's the worst thing a house could smell like, and I get really upset when I think I smell it in mine. Sometimes I also smell something burning; I go around trying to find what's catching on fire before it spreads and I die, but of course it vanishes. Maybe our fears are influencing what our phantom smells are?

[@shadowkyber2510]

@@atriyakoller136 would you rather be anosmiac or hypernosmia? I'm anosmiac and I don't really mind, the only downside is that if my house ever got a gas leak I wouldn't realise, also I can't tell if I stink or not (I can't smell others either but so there's an upside)

[@MR-kt4wz]

As someone who’s had anosmia all their life, videos like this fascinate me. And it’s super curious that all your “hated” foods, are some of my favourites. If I could eat blue cheese and olives every day, I would. I hope you recover soon, but thank you for sharing this little experiment.

[@tusharbhudia9421]

Damn I must not have functioning smell either, na fr tho, for some reason my sences are dialed to 10 compared to others I can smell food being served from a mile away can hear people coming from a mile away etc. (not my sight tho unfortunately haha), so seeing this is kinda the opposite cause I agree with most things their exept the licorish. Maybe I am able to ignore my senses when I eat?

[@reylavienna1318]

@@tusharbhudia9421 I have the same intense smelling and hearing, ass awful sight as well, and I can ignore really rank smells that other people hate, but like if someone uses too much cologne or Clorox it’s awful for me. Like its never how bad the smell is, its just how much of it there is that sucks for me

[@meikusje]

@@tusharbhudia9421 I am sensitive to tastes and smells as well, but for me this has always meant that for some reason I lean towards strong tasting foods. I've always been a picky eater, but I've also always loved a lot of food that most kids didn't like. Olives, fish, strong cheeses, sauerkraut (anything pickled, really), and when I get a hotdog I put on ALL the condiments. Mayo, mustard, ketchup, onions, sauerkraut, give me everything! But I can also pick up flavors I dislike in dishes that only contain a minimal amount of it (to the point where other people don't pick up on it at all), and it'll ruin the whole dish for me.

[@DoKuShOsTaR]

It’s not all smell too though. I don’t have anosmia, but I’ve had a bad sense of smell since I’ve been a kid. People will comment on scents and I’m just like *lol what theres a smell?* Anyway, I love blue cheese but can’t stand olives.

[@ff8ff7]

I was born without smell as well and love all of these as well (except licorice, that's just gross).

[@simonmay1671]

Hank being a scientist at all times

[@eaterdrinker000]

I would make a pregnancy craving joke, but that would be tasteless in the context of COVID. As well the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

[@butlershurk7227]

Would it be tasteless or noseblind?

[@eaterdrinker000]

@@butlershurk7227 : Well, Dr. Phil, I smell and taste fine, but I'm usually out of touch and have an utter lack of caring.

[@kjc570]

Hank, I think that “richness” you were describing was UMAMI!!! The savory flavor!!! It’s so interesting how you were able to isolate that taste so clearly due to your smell being knocked out

[@thecheeseclubvp]

+

[@vlogbrothers]

Totally! This only occurred to me while I was editing!!

[@hellodumzo]

@@vlogbrothers I hope for your strength in living without complex taste/smell. Good luck!

[@autumnsylver]

That's how black olives normally taste to me, so it was interesting to me that Hank was only able to taste it because his sense of smell is gone.

[@ruffy0001]

I was about to write the same thing! Olives for example are very umami, but we usually don't have as much of an awareness for umami as we have for the other tastes, so this often gets overlooked (or should i say "overtasted"?)

[@obi-sean]

My sense of smell has been gone or substantially diminished for about 9 months now. There are some aromas that I can still detect, especially in extremely high concentrations, but for the most part I can't smell things and the things I can smell are wrong, as if the connections in my brain are mismatched. I had a similar experience when I was actively sick with COVID but it affected my sense of taste much more than my sense of smell-in particular, butter, celery, peaches, and to some extent chocolate all triggered the same taste response in my brain. It was like they each tasted normal, but I would take a bite of celery and my brain would go "yep, that's butter alright." It was sort of a dream-logic "this is my grade school PE teacher and also my mom and my next-door neighbor and we're going to Wal-Mart that's also the neighborhood swimming pool" scenario but with flavors.

[@jainastudio]

god do I hate this. you are strong!

[@johnsnowdon2939]

For me it was burning smells and burnt tastes very early on. Things would either have no taste at all, or would taste (and smell) burnt even when they were not burned/caramelised/or otherwise on that spectrum of cooked-to-burned. The burnt taste thing is gone (fortunately, after about 2 years), but I still get burning smells (when there is absolutely nothing burning at all!) from time to time. Still pretty much no smell, and taste is really dulled - I enjoy cooking and eating out, so that's quite disappointing.

[@austingirl39]

I lost my smell/taste in December....still hasn't come back. 😢 I hate the days I have a burning/rubber smell....sucks

[@obi-sean]

@@austingirl39 Burning smells and rot are among the only things I can reliably detect, and my anosmia began in September. I would speculate that there's some evolutionary reason that those are the synaptic pathways that seem to be reconstructed first, since those seem to be among the first aromas that come back for folks afflicted by this particular COVID symptom.

[@austingirl39]

@@obi-sean I'm beginning to lose hope...I know I shouldn't, but I'm a foodie and not being able to really taste is so depressing 😞.....I am the one that cooks for my husband/children....every day is an adventure 😅

[@silverandexact]

Hank, I appreciate you turning a bad experience into great content. You have every right to feel bad and complain, but the fact that you've seized the few opportunities for good presented by a serious illness really shows how positive and creative you are, which I've always admired. You truly exemplify DFTBA. I'm sorry you got rebound COVID but I'm glad you're back at home with your family. Hope you recover your smell soon and stay healthy. 💛

[@WintaAssefa]

Right?!

[@silverandexact]

@@TMinusRecords Don't Forget To Be Awesome. It's the Vlogbrothers catchphrase. They don't really use it anymore except on their podcast.

[@MoeSzyslak20]

It's happening again, but with cancer

[@RebakaChan]

as someone with some severe food taste/smell/texture sensitivity, this is incredibly fascinating

[@jeffmcdonald101]

I almost wish I could downgrade by 50%, I can smell way too well for my own good. Not gonna get covid to bring it on though.

[@craftysnailtail860]

Yes! Especially smell. I've actually done research into whether there are procedures to lessen your sense of smell because mine is so acute it causes health issues. Nausea, migraines, etc from normal smells. So interesting to hear there are other people like this!

[@randomgood43]

@@craftysnailtail860 I also get migraines from certain smells and have an unusually strong sense of smell! But I also need some of my sense of smell (not as strong as it currently is, though) because I have tons of low-grade food allergies/sensitivities and sometimes my nose will pick up on something very subtle (way more subtle than what Hank’s sense of taste alone is doing in this vid) and protect me from consuming something that would cause problems. I thought Hank was very adventurous in this vid for eating things that, with his sense of smell intact, “taste like poison”. If it were me, I would be LESS likely to try things that “taste like poison” to me usually, because with all my food allergies, they usually are! He did a great job with this, though. It was cute to see how excited he got about some of the foods he thought would be gross.

[@BRoyce69]

Unfortunately texture is pretty well tied to any feeling, as it uses physical receptors, whereas taste and smell use chemical ones

[@seanmcadams1216]

Just say you’re a picky eater

[@hannahmendralla5577]

As someone with congenital anosmia (born without a sense of smell… yup, it’s legit), these videos always crack me up because people tell me all the time that it’s “not a real disability” or that it’s “better” for me to not have a sense of smell than to be blind or deaf, but then somebody experiences the loss of smell/taste and suddenly they’re like “oh my god, I can’t taste anything, NOTHING taste good! I don’t even wanna eat anymore! What’s the point of eating???” and that’s how I’ve lived my whole life, I’ve never known anything different and I’ll never get to experience the complexities of flavors. People unfortunately won’t understand the severity of this condition until they experience it for themselves, and it’s not like there’s a “cure” or accommodations for people with smell or taste disorders, unlike those who are blind or deaf or even born missing a limb! It’s a chronic, incurable, and invisible disability… it is devastating and debilitating. My word of advice: please don’t take smell and taste, or any of the senses you are able to experience, for granted because you will definitely notice a difference if they’re gone…

[@orchdork775]

You should start a company that makes food specifically for people without a sense of smell, since that seems to really change how things taste. I'm sure there's a science to food combinations that taste really good without a sense of smell that you normally wouldn't know about because most people have sense a smell. Idk I feel like there's a whole area of food science that needs to be explored here haha

[@eiosti]

I'm sorry but how does not being able to enjoy your food impair your functioning? There are accommodations. Like gas leak detection devices. I still don't get how you can think not smelling things is at all comparable to the loss of a major sense like sight or hearing. You don't have to alter the way you do things, for the most part. You're not barred from doing basic things in your daily life, nor are you discriminated against. It's an impairment for sure, but how is it disabling in the slightest???

[@hannahmendralla5577]

@@eiosti A disability is a physical or mental impairment that impacts a person’s movements or senses, which can limit their quality of life. Smell and taste are two of the five main senses we can experience, therefore lacking either of these (or both in my case) is considered a disability, just as it would be if someone was blind or deaf. Now this is not a common disability and it is “invisible” per say because nobody looks at me and assumes that I’m disabled, but it is a chronic condition that limits my ability to take in information from the world around me and process it You mentioned how that only issue you expect is smelling gas… What about fires? What about stale or rotten food? What about the odor from cleaning supplies? What about my own body odor? Smell is a huge part in safety so the issues I experience are: mistakenly eating food that is spoiled but not knowing it until I get sick from it, burning something in the oven and not realizing it until the fire alarm goes off, getting lightheaded while cleaning the bathroom because I didn’t realize how powerful the fumes of the chemicals were, etc. I have to be more careful when cooking food, labeling my leftovers, and when working with chemicals because I won’t know there’s danger until it’s too late. Not to mention, while I can’t perceive how others smell, others can perceive me, so I have to be diligent with deodorant and perfume because I can easily offend others (and you’d be surprised how often you forget that you can smell bad when you can’t even smell yourself! It’s like someone who was born blind forgetting to turn on their lights at home when a guest comes over because those who are blind don’t need the lights on to see!) Another thing to note: smell is closely related to memory and taste. I’m sure you can recall a time when you smelled something, like cookies baking in the oven, and you were immediately reminded of that one time you went to your grandparents house when you were a kid and your grandmother baked you a dozen cookies that you ate on the porch in the middle of summer with a glass of lemonade (just as an example)… Many memories are linked to our senses, but smell is especially unique due to its location within the brain, so some have argued that people with anosmia can’t create memories or recall them as clearly as those who can smell. I also think people underestimate how much smell impacts your ability to taste. Those with anosmia can experience salty, sweet, bitter, spicy… they can perceive those, but they can’t tell you WHY. I can taste two different kinds of chili, but I could only tell you that they’re spicy or hot… I can’t tell you what MAKES them spicy, whether it’s a jalapeño or ghost pepper or whatever the hell it is… same for drinks too! You think I can tell a difference between Coke and Pepsi? (Spoiler: I can’t, they taste like dark, bubbly sugar water and I don’t know why, so why should I drink it?) The key here is the flavor: smell helps us distinguish between different flavors. Lots of things are salty, lots of things are sweet, but there are so many different levels of sweetness and saltiness, like how there are so many different colors of red and blue. In my case, I only see one shade of red and one shade of blue while you could see a whole portrait painted solely in these colors and see a whole new color… purple! I think you’d benefit from talking with people who’ve lost their sense of smell and taste as a result of trauma or old age, because these people have seen both sides of the equation. I’m still learning about what I’m missing out on life, I still have so many questions about my condition because even after 24 years, I’m still trying to figure out how to make the most out of what I’ve been given. I only know what I’ve been told from physicians and researchers on the condition. Look into the Anosmia Foundation. Look into the Monell Chemical Senses Center. Check out Dia Kline’s KZbin page. You can find a lot of good information about this condition and what life is like without these two senses. But I can tell you this: smoke alarms and gas detectors do NOT equal colorblind glasses, or cochlear implants, or even prosthetic limbs. These devices are NOT accommodating for people with my condition. They make my life safer and they eliminate hazards for everyone, no doubt, but there is nothing that can give me the ability to inhale through my nose and determine that there’s a skunk nearby, or to take a bite out of a burger and realize that the meat is rotten. Sometimes I’m jealous of my friend who is HHD because at least people don’t question whether or not she is “truly” disabled and with a cochlear implant and other accommodations, her hearing is (almost) on par with mine. There is nothing, and I doubt there ever will be, that will do the same for smell and taste disorders…

[@nextgencowboy]

as someone who's very, very, into fragrance, this is something that terrifies me. It is literally up there with losing eyesight, or hearing. a fundamental change in my life that would be utterly traumatic and difficult to cope with. while I haven't experienced loss of smell or taste during COVID, I worry it has had an effect on my hearing. Maybe it is age, but I feel like it's diminished greatly over the last two years.

[@TheTingcat]

@@eiosti even if it doesn't impair functioning (and it does) invalidating a person's experience will not make you any friends. It would be like telling a Christian that God isn't real - irregardless of anyone's beliefs, it will just make them ignore you or worst case make them uncomfortable.

[@stephsviolin]

This is fascinating. The way you described black licorice, blue cheese, and olives is almost exactly the way I, as someone who loves those things, would. (For the record I also love pickles, but find anchovies absolutely revolting. I do love a good pickled herring, though.) I'd be very interested to see if this sudden enjoyment of hated foods could carry over to a continued appreciation of them once your sense of smell returns.

[@poonyaTara]

Simultaneously: My college roommate: "I hate pears 🍐. They're so gritty!" Me: "I love pears 🍐. They're so gritty!"

[@PSaiTheLegend]

I hope he does a follow up after he recovers!!! Well, if he gets his smell sense back…

[@MisterCynic18]

I've always liked all those, but my nose has never been very good either. Maybe all those foods were catered to the nasally impaired from the beginning

[@myboatforacar]

Ooh! Also might be worth trying foods with these ingredients, like chicken wings with blue cheese dressing, or olive tapenade!

[@myboatforacar]

@@MisterCynic18 Part of it is also genetic. Certain people's smell receptors are wired differently. Me, I hated all of these as a kid, but now the only one I still can't stand is blue cheese. First time I tried it, I thought it had gone off... then later I realized it was supposed to taste like that :(

[@vickythrasher436]

I love that Hank’s reaction to losing his sense of smell/taste is “LETS DO SCIENCE!”

[@General12th]

HANK GREEN THE SCIENCE MACHINE

[@Mach1048]

It's the Scientist thing to do. Experiment on yourself!

[@littlestbroccoli]

Me too, so much!

[@BehindTheGreenEyes]

Let's* But yes. Science rocks!

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

@@Mach1048 Always experiment on yourself, because then you don't have to worry about ethical violations!

[@breepowell3471]

Eats pickle: "That's very bad, there's a lot of bitterness. I'm sitting here though and now I kind of want more of it" Every pickle lover out here: "Yes"

[@coryman125]

If you haven't stood by the fridge between midnight and 2am eating pickles out of the jar at least once in your life, you haven't lived

[@catspajamboree]

@@coryman125 pickles deadass be a ive lost control of my life type snack

[@AliviaHaven]

@@coryman125 this is literally how I can tell my mental health has hit rock bottom 😅

[@coryman125]

@@AliviaHaven It's a crunchy and delicious way to gauge your well-being!

[@Outlawsrevenge1020]

I love pickles and olives! I love how Sour-ish they are. In fact I remember staying at my uncles, eating all his olives and leaving the jar. 🤣

[@Imsosappy]

When your smell comes back, you should do this again with the ones you liked. There are foods I've hated but because I had a S/O or family member who would eat them around me all the time I got used to the smell and was able to eat and enjoy the taste without being overwhelmed by the smell. I'm curious to see since you like the taste if it will allow you to overcome the distasteful smell. Kind of the opposite of when being sick makes you not like food you normally like.

[@jessw1168]

+

[@joylucio4430]

i was like that with olives, now i like them but only the green ones

[@courtneyquinn3188]

@@joylucio4430 I prefer the Kalmata olives :-)

[@sharilynross1140]

I lost my smell to a respiratory infection 17 years ago and it hasn’t come back. (Actually trying a new medication that has come from COVID related research- fingers crossed). Anyway, the lack of smell definitely changed the way I cook and I have learned a lot from Asian cuisines that use the juxtaposition of tastes, textures and temperature. Also I have a fridge full of hot sauces.

[@heliveruscalion9124]

just a tip, ben and jerry's is chunky because one of them (can't remember which) was born without the sense of smell, and the chunks help the guy taste the ice cream

[@BehindTheGreenEyes]

@@heliveruscalion9124 Didn't know that. Super useful to know. Thanks!

[@heliveruscalion9124]

@@BehindTheGreenEyes no prob (:

[@turtlemusic1509]

My aunt kept burning food when she couldn't smell due to COVID.

[@thatboringone7851]

What's the medication called? I could probably lose an afternoon to looking into that particular rabbit hole and reading about how it works. My sense of smell is sometimes better sometimes worse, to the point that a sinus infection or a cold can leave me unable to taste anything for a few weeks. I'm glad I haven't got covid yet (as far as I know), I don't really want to find out if it'd kill it permanently.

[@annakovach4351]

I’m a year out from having had covid and my sense of smell is so strange. I lost it totally while I was sick and slowly things are returning but here is the list of major inconveniences. Can’t smell rotten food. Can’t smell when the garbage needs to go out because something funky is in there. Most artificial fragrances that I once enjoyed smell like a variety of very bad smells. My shampoo smells like spoiled milk. My conditioner smells like cat pee. Room sprays and candles are generally bad. I’m glad to have a lot of it back, but the stuff that got rewired wrong is a real pain.

[@Nuhtalley]

I’ve heard some people who have gotten covid now have a rotten sense of smell and taste and have to take extra precautions when eating or they will throw up. Seems to be on the more rare side.

[@swamp6825]

@@Nuhtalley This was me up until about a month ago when my taste started to smooth out a bit! Eating anything with grease was like biting into rotten roadkill, straight rancid

[@adolphsfather4834]

I was lucky, nothing smells bad, just unflavored cooked meat, coca cola, and some chocalate tastes bad to me

[@halecj1]

For me it took about a year for my taste to come back completely. My smell came back as well EXCEPT for rotten smelling things and urine. Now any nasty odor that smells like poop, rotten eggs or roadkill just smells like burning rubber to me. Urine now always smells like antibiotic pee did before covid. It's so weird and I want to know why it's just those smells. Also side note: I didn't like ranch before covid and now I can't stop drenching everything I can in it.

[@guy3480]

i had the same thing. Youll get ur full smell back eventually. Something about the way it knocks out ur sense of smell makes you have to get used to and learn smells again. For me it was my beloved hotsauce. I went to war with this disease. I tasted hot sauce every day and it was always like sewage. Suddenly one day i tried it and it was good again!

[@andrea.dandelion]

Did this remind anyone else of that one scene in Ratatouille where Remy is tasting all the different foods and the flavors turn into dancing colors? Hank does such a good job of describing his tasting experience!! I love it! Thanks, Hank 😄

[@catalatorre4801]

You're not alone lol, I was thing that too XD

[@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721]

Hank Green, professional food critic

[@origaminosferatu3357]

Also known as "Hank eats literally ALL my favourite foods," honestly, just when I thought we could be friends. Enjoy them while you can and get well soon Hank!! Edit: as a side note I have almost no sense of smell anyway (dang genetics) so maybe that's why I like these foods.

[@KalebPeters99]

The thing is, you two would be perfect friends cuz you would happily finish all the stuff he didn't want 😆

[@aifayashajaganshi]

I mean same but I can smell.

[@LochNessax3]

Almost same (except anchovies and licorice), but I can smell well

[@purpleghost106]

I've got a good sense of smell, I like all those things. I wouldn't say fave, because salmon sashimi tops all else in my world. Vinegar I find very overpowering-- but that doesn't mean I won't eat it, for the same reason I'll eat something so spicy I can barely tolerate it. I kind of like having my tastebuds and sense of smell overwhelmed. XD Also blue cheese does smell terrible, but it still tastes great, so I shove it in my mouth as quickly as possible! lol

[@Kipicus]

I have a great sense of smell and these are all my favorite foods, I’m just like: 👁👄👁 You gunna finish that Hank? Wait until he hears about salted black licorice and tries anchovies on actual pizza.

[@colonelpopcorn7702]

Hank's excitement in this is, as always, spectacular and infectious

[@musiciminecraft]

Oh my. As a chef my smell is incredibly important to me and seeing this just reminds me that I need it. Thank you Hank for reminding me to not get Covid XD

[@Nelle4ever]

Bad news: You'll probably get Covid in the near future. Good news: Your sense of smell should ultimately be just fine.

[@musiciminecraft]

@@Nelle4ever I already got Covid unfortunately but I could get it again ;-;

[@SchmaltzyCraftsy]

Smell effects taste too. Many foods are all aroma.

[@kmbehrens14]

I know a wine sommelier who lost his taste/smell from COVID, and it’s a tragedy on the level of mythology. (It came back, thankfully!)

[@beatm6948]

Good news: as far as i know smell loss is WAY LESS common than it was before. But yes to not being sick 😁

[@noram1725]

Much love to you, Hank. I hope your recovery is quick. Best wishes! 💙

[@angie4163]

love seeing a grown adult taste a new taste for the first time, especially when it's a thing he's already tasted

[@ellieban]

My friend, who ordinarily hates veggies, ate loads while her smell was gone 😂🤣😂 It came back in a couple of weeks ❤️

[@TheDeglutenizer]

Does she like veggies more now?

[@melissashiels7838]

That was my plan if I got COVID (which I thankfully, haven't - touch wood). Eat all the healthy foods I hate to try and get a bit healthier (tomatoes primarily. I think the texture of mushrooms would still gross me out to eat them).

[@totally_not_a_bot]

@@melissashiels7838 For the texture of mushrooms, chop finely with a knife or food processor. Pretty standard procedure for most sauces with mushrooms. I recommend using them in a white sauce. Bechamel, salt, pepper, baby bella mushrooms are pretty standard. Buy the mushrooms the day of or keep them in the fridge for a couple.

[@JasminMiettunen]

@@melissashiels7838 fresh mushrooms, preserved mushroom slices in brine and cooked mushrooms all have a different texture, have you tried all of them? Obviously nobody needs to like every veggie on the planet, but you know

[@melissashiels7838]

@@JasminMiettunen I don't think I've ever tried mushrooms in brine. I've mostly had cooked mushrooms in a sauce and it's like having a slug in my mouth. I hate both the taste and texture, and as you say, there are plenty of other veggies, so I just avoid them.

[@0000000Fritz]

I admire your ability to still find the bright side in something as difficult as illness. It inspires me to try the same. All the best wishes of recovery from Berlin (Germany)!

[@madibroyles7183]

When I had Covid, I lost my sense of smell and taste completely. It was very traumatic to me because I'm a foodie and love it taste things. I remember crying at the dinner table because I couldn't taste the lasagna my mom made for dinner and then feeling guilty for crying because there were people dying of covid and I was crying over food. Luckily, I got both senses back within a week or two of having covid but it's definitely something I never want to experience again.

[@pathos7527]

I wouldn’t feel guilty. ♥️ Each person’s life experience is their own, so it makes sense to feel sadness and suffering at what you are personally dealing with. Think of it like you got in an accident riding a bike and got a bad scrape. Maybe other people have died in accidents while riding a bike, but that doesn’t make you selfish to want to cry because that scrape hurts. It certainly isn’t that you lack empathy for those even less fortunate people, you’re just acknowledging your own struggles too. So please don’t beat yourself up about that. And I’m glad you are doing better now.

[@MelB868]

I’m sorry that must of been hard.

[@BriefDownpour]

Nobody should have to earn the right to cry through suffering. Crying is just an expression, if it matches how you feel, just do it. Later you can laugh at the thought of how silly it is to cry over food if you want to.

[@rebeccasylvernale8531]

prior to covid around 5 years ago, my dad described his taste as becoming "muted"- his doctor informed him it was probably a reaction to a virus. It took a while, but his taste did eventually return to normal. So this is to say, I'm so sorry you're going through this, it's not fun at all, and it might take a while, but it can come back in time.

[@LizzBowlen]

I've experienced this twice now, and absolutely did the same thing when it comes to eating foods I don't normally enjoy. For getting by, the most important thing is looking for foods with a lot of textural contrasts and hits of the 5 tastes you still have. Crystallized ginger was great for this, as were salads with spicy dressings and popcorn.

[@legend7951]

Candied ginger is so good even without the sickness

[@nicogun7086]

I had an experience with someone that developed anosmia due to COVID. When lockdown ended where I live, I gave this person a visit. We got to hang out for a while until I went to the bathroom and while I was walking by his bed, I smelled something really really rotten. I asked this person what was that smell and he told me he didn't notice anything. I searched for the source of the smell for a while but I couldn't find anything, finally I gave up. A few days later I came back to his house and I searched again, because that smell was so bad I had to find where it came from. I tried following the smell like a cartoon character would do, until I saw under his bed. The space I looked through was narrow and I couldn't see anything, but my nose was telling me the source of the smell was under there. I moved the bed until I saw it, a dead animal, probably a rat but I'm not sure because of the decomposition state of the animal, I could only see bones and some fur. Since then, I learned what anosmia was and it boggles my mind on how some people live without enjoying food to it's full extent. Side note: I talked about this anecdote with my friend a lot and we laughed about it. One time I asked him if he got his sense of smell back, he didn't understand the question at first and he finally told me he have had anosmia for his entire life, COVID had nothing to do with it. He was born deaf (I already knew this because he has a coclear implant that helps him hear) and without his sense of smell. That means that if he turns off his coclear implant he is experiencing only 3/5 senses and can live like that with almost no issue, other than communicating verbally and detecting dead rats. Humans may be the most adaptive species there is

[@ThatSomethingGuy]

I'm so looking forward to a follow-up to this where you have your smell back, just to compare and contrast the reactions.

[@Ani]

i don't know how often tastes change as an adult, but i know that the foods i absolutely hated at age 10-12 are foods i actually enjoy quite a bit now, about 7 years later - maybe it's the same for you, hank! maybe the silver lining of rebound covid is that you get to rediscover your love for Blue cheese and black licorice!

[@geoff5623]

I think it's pretty common, particularly with kids' aversion to bitter and affinity for sweet. Maybe there are milder blue cheeses and better quality black licorice that Hank will enjoy once his smell returns.

[@KingYoite]

Your sense of smell and taste develops/changes as you age, which is why kids love sweet things and adults tend to like more bitter flavours.

[@PerMortensen]

I try that every few years with olives with the same reasoning. The conclusion is always the same though: olives are horrendous!

[@resourceress7]

@@KingYoite It's because you lose taste buds your whole life. Just like you lose neurons your whole life. You don't grow any extras after any cell dies. At least that's what the information was the last time I read it. Please do feel free to Google and let me know if I'm wrong.

[@rmdodsonbills]

I read recently that, while this is a thing that happens, another thing that happens is that better-tasting versions of some foods are also discovered/developed. Brussels sprouts today, for example, are a tastier cultivar than they were when I was a kid.

[@ianmalkaviac]

Now we need an after video to see how you feel about them once your smell does come back. Wishing you a fast recovery

[@tradersato]

I have long COVID and while “some” of my smell has come back, tastes seem to either have come back subtly or I’ve forgotten what things taste like. Yes it’s been close to two years since my COVID loss, so remembering what things taste like is not as obvious. First thing I lost sense of was what curry smells like. It was amazing to put my nose in a curry spice jar and smell what I’d say was a clean glass jar… NADA. As you mentioned, there are still some basic tastes but the complexity or nuances of the hundreds of components that make, say coffee taste like coffee, are gone. So the bitter sometimes rancid basic burnt flavor is all I get from it. Meats used to taste like iron or rust.. obviously from the basics of what makes meat, meat. I found it quite interesting as an experiment as to what foods taste like when your nose or some part of your receptors is taken out of the equation. Thank goodness chocolate still is flavorful enough to enthuse me.

[@sweepingtime]

I wouldn't know what to do if I can't smell coffee.

[@schnozz4301]

There's something called smell training that has helped a lot of people with covid scent loss. If you haven't already, I suggest you look it up and try it out; it's been backed by studies. Doesn't take much time or money, it has to do with smelling strong memorable scents while focusing on your memory of that scent, to retrain your brain to process smells like it should. Less than a minute every day, but it does take 4-6 months usually for effects to show. There's a lot of different instructions out there so I'd suggest trying to find proper medical sources like universities.

[@TurquoiseInk]

@@schnozz4301 yes to the smell training!

[@sarahprunierlaw9147]

sending best wishes for regaining it!

[@cleodello]

Oh, I also could only taste "burnt" things when I had covid recently. I'm sorry you've had to deal with long covid, but I wish you the best!

[@EVEspinosa79]

I kept cooking through anosmia. My husband says that one of the best meals I've ever cooked was one I prepared while being unable to enjoy it, I've repeated the recipe so many times and he says it is good, but not as good as that one time. I kept sniffing all the spices I own and couldn't smell a thing. One day my husband was adding some vanilla flavored whey to his oats, and those tiny specs of dust were the first thing I was able to smell back again. So, despite it is a very artificial smell, I now love it and feel forever thankful for its existence.

[@FoamyLatte78]

I think my brain is just really tired right now but this is really sweet and it made me tear up for some reason lol. I hope you continue to enjoy returned sense of smell!

[@isabelleh9367]

I watched this video this week on my first day of quarantining in my apartment alone. Just this morning I lost my own sense of smell and taste. Having watched this video just days before has brought me a lot of comfort in a scary and lonely time. Thank you so much for your creativity, knowledge, and positive attitude.

[@nikitajain2092]

Take care and feel better soon hank! Also, THAT was one hell of a 4 minute rollercoaster ride XD But seriously I think you should be incharge of naming every single KZbin video ever.

[@iRunningHunter]

Hank Green: “I like most foods” Also Hank Green: *proceeds to describe a long list of very common foods and ingredients that he hates*

[@edwardhisse2687]

Well it's a pretty common "foods people don't like"list. I love all of these but actively avoid eating un-baked apples so arguably I'm more of a picky eater.

[@ferrous719]

Sounds like me too. I like a lot of foods, except spicy, peanut butter (except.on toast and celery and apples which means for years I thought I liked it), fish, and black licorice. But just those things! I like everything else!

[@cleodello]

Okay, but disliking blue cheese is essentially not liking moldy food. That seems reasonable.

[@reklessbravo2129]

@@edwardhisse2687 do you know if you've tried good apples like honeycrisp or just terrible ones like red delicious? Cause if i tried red del before knowing what good apples tasted like I'd have actively avoided apples too

[@edwardhisse2687]

@@reklessbravo2129 We don't have those here but I was once given a freshly picked one from someone's old tree that was a cultivar not ment for the stores. In texture and juiciness it was closer to a ripe pear and I liked that one but I wouldn't say "I like apples" based on one old tree that likely won't survive another sunny season of apple moths infestation.

[@rodrigosebastianpagano8198]

In my "experiments" with no sense of smell during my COVID period, I've discovered that peanuts have a LOT of flavor that usually go unnoticed. Try those, preferably without salt, but salted peanuts do the trick too if you let them stay awhile in you mouth.

[@eddsson]

If Hank broke a leg and had to spend five months in a wheelchair he'd invent seven new Olympic sports, make new categories on YT and raise awareness about disabilities planet wide while being completely amazed over the technological breakthroughs of wheelchairs. Never change, Hank!

[@silverandexact]

+

[@TSZatoichi]

sounds about right

[@mijngebruikersnaamisjoy]

this is so true

[@april147]

+

[@Alvarin_IL]

Recently discovered there is an OLYMPIC FENCING for wheelchair bound athletes...

[@BaileyWhite]

I’ve never been able to smell all my life. The way you described how your taste is affected is spot on.

[@DallasLaDucer]

I don't have a sense of smell, ever, but love to cook and eat. Loved seeing this as you described your experience better than I can typically explain it to others. I suspect that most of my favorite food items are things that rely heavily on those primary tastes and not on smell.

[@Toasttttttttt]

Just got diagnosed with covid and was freaking out a bit. Impeccable timing! Hope you feel better soon, take care!

[@zethcrownett2946]

This was interesting. When I lost my taste from covid for like 2 days, it was wild. I was expecting it to be what you're describing, where you have your base tastes but the smell is gone, but no. It was literally couldn't taste anything. How did I know? I drank soda and it tasted like water. I drank orange juice and it tasted like water. No sweet, no sour. Tried to tast salt, couldn't taste that. It was wild. Edit: I want to add, my nose wasn't stuff at all, I could breathe like normal and that's what made it feel especially off.

[@katrijndekeersmaecker1904]

I had the same reaction! The only things I could still 'taste' were texture and spicyness. Out of desperation I drank a lot of strong ginger tea.

[@missyook]

Same here. When I had covid, there was nothing in the realm of smell or taste for a couple weeks. I ate some banana bread, which I'd normally love... but without the smell/taste, it was hideous. Just like eating a soft kitchen sponge.

[@savanabanana]

same! I ate a mango and could tell from the texture that it was super juicy, but I couldn't taste a thing and it made me so incredibly sad haha. I'm about 2.5 weeks from my day of infection tho and have most of my smell & taste back! I feel like I still can't pick up on things as intensely as pre-covid, but I can get enough that I'm satisfied :')

[@jennivamp5]

Yeah, it was really weird. I tried with orange juice and it tasted like water but I could still feel the slight acidity to it... Really weird

[@ollDeadfishllo]

@@katrijndekeersmaecker1904 lmao! When I had it but had enough energy to cook, I made veggie soup and always used red pepper paste. It was the only part I COULD taste so I was thankful for that.

[@Kb-gh2rk]

Man it’s been so long and I checked back to see if they are still doing this and dang this hit me right in the feels hearing him say “good morning John”. These men played such a massive roll in my childhood.

[@geraldinewu2207]

been down with covid for 5 days and this just made the weekend a little easier to get through, thank you Hank, as always!

[@franallen3680]

I’ve never felt such validation as I have in learning that all my hated foods are also hated by Hank Green

[@MaiseNow]

My physical therapist had the anosmia kind of COVID last year, and she said she still can't eat Iceberg lettuce because it tastes like soap. Somehow, COVID mixed up her signals enough to give her the cilantro-soap reaction to Iceberg lettuce! She doesn't have the cilantro-soap thing normally, so this freaked her out completely. she said she now understands why we cilantro-soap people hate cilantro. Also, black licorice is always tasty. I'm glad you're trying these things but man so many of them are my favorite things already lmao EDIT: My mother eats tinned fish as a snack. Sardines are a treat to eat with stoned wheat thin crackers for her. This video cracked me up

[@ladylove34]

My friend had anosmia from covid (Oct 2020) and she also says iceberg lettuce tastes like soap.

[@yoyo9970]

For me iceberg lettuce and certain other vegetables (but not every time which is weird) have what I describe as a “radiation” taste. It’s like this acrid smell/taste that happens somewhere between my mouth and my sinuses. Very strange indeed.

[@DindellaTheDefender]

As someone who’s gone most of my life without smell: sour, bitter, and especially spice have been my friends when it comes to food. If your body can handle spice but you usually don’t eat it, now would be the time to dab a little on everything. Well, as long as it’s not the Last Dab.

[@katekramer7679]

What caused your loss of smell, if you don't mind sharing?

[@DindellaTheDefender]

@@katekramer7679 , don’t know for sure, because my parents didn’t believe me for a long time, so I never saw a doctor about it when it first happened. A sinus infection is anyone’s best guess. I realized how long this takes to explain, so length warning: I was a very, VERY dramatic little ADHD child and I wasn’t eloquent at all. I wasn’t able to explain that I felt like I wasn’t getting enough air, so my “I can’t breath!”s were getting ignored the entire drive to CVS from MiniLand. I’m not sure why we were going there, but it was most likely to pick up a prescription for my brother. To my parents, I was breathing just fine, but for some reason, that afternoon, every time I was inside the car or a building-anywhere without enough airflow-all I could smell was something incredibly intense. A smell I now understand was probably mucus. I didn’t want to be inside, so my parents had to go outside and bring me back in. I tried very hard to not be inside, but eventually we went back to the car and I had a brief reprieve from my nose until getting back into the car. Which I also gave my parents a hard time on. And on the way home, I remember that the smell grew in intensity and so did a pressure inside of my nose. The moment the pressure “popped” and I could breathe again, that intense mucus smell disappeared. And so did every other smell. It wasn’t until my parents had to find a solution to me using the toilet because I couldn’t tell that there was bleach in it that they realized I was serious about not being able to smell. They started putting the bottle on top of the toilet as my flag to use the other toilet. My sense of smell returning has been incredibly gradual. To put things in perspective: I am 28 currently and probably lost my smell at around 8 years old. When I was working outside at a theme park in 2015 was when I started experiencing some smell again. I smelled pizza, briefly, for the first time while walking to the employee exit, and it was a tradegy that I was too broke to go buy one for myself at the time. And this year, I finally don’t need spice to eat most things. I’ve enjoyed a lot of foods-speghetti, burritos, burgers-that I use to only enjoy for their texture over their flavor and would drown in spice. I still can’t smell the best and I don’t have a lot of scent memories to go off of, but it’s made experiencing new smells very exciting!

[@Hoshimaru57]

The Last Dab isn’t that hot…technically. It’s what 2mill? Don’t get me wrong, that’s absurdly hot. But effectively water compared to some stuff I’ve tried and heard of. There’s a sauce called The End Flatline that comes in at an unspecified “3 times hotter than a reaper pepper” or somewhere between 7 and 8 million scoville. I tried it…I refer you to Shin Godzilla’s atomic breath for the reaction.

[@DindellaTheDefender]

@@Hoshimaru57 , it is for someone without a spice tolerance, haha. Hence my not recommending it to those who don’t have it, even if they can’t taste right now. I probably could’ve phrased it better, though.

[@mr.goldfish1530]

@@DindellaTheDefender That's a really interesting story. Thanks for sharing!

[@RyanTheWolf]

I've had nasal and sinus issues my entire life that limited my smell to nearly nothing. It's kinda weird seeing folks around me go "oh man this is what its like?!" and me like "yeah...28 years of that"

[@Jellywife]

Yup in same boat here. I can’t imagine suddenly realising that I’ve lost my sense of smell or taste, been used to that for 31 years!

[@TwistedEyes12]

I like how his description of black licorice while missing a huge portion of his taste is what I taste as I'm one of those crazy black licorice lovers! Glad you got to enjoy it even if only for a brief moment in time!

[@JohnIrwin]

You are not alone. Black licorice is one of those flavours that feels like finding a secret pub at the end of a long dog walk in the country.

[@NoorAnomaly]

When I had covid, the only things I could taste were bitter and spicy. But my spicy tolerance went way up, and I ended up putting Sriracha mayo on everything. This went on for 4 months, until Christmas Eve I got my taste back and the sense of smell slowly followed. I still like spicy food now though. As someone who used to hate spicy food.

[@jlt131]

i haven't had covid or a smell/taste loss, but I did get a bad case of dry mouth for about a year and although i could taste things, spicy stuff didn't seem as spicy. so I got really used to eating spicy salsa and a lot of this thai peanut sauce i LOVED....until the dry mouth went away and now i can't tolerate the spice of the peanut sauce any more! I still eat it; I'm hoping I can boost my tolerance to it over time :D

[@mottle_]

Wild, I used to have a decent spice tolerance before covid, and now even black pepper will make my nose run. I still eat spicier foods, but it’s a struggle getting back to where I used to be. Interesting how varied everyone’s experiences are.

[@SnekAAA]

I could only taste salt! All other food senses didnt exist. I couldnt smell anything but a constant mix of extra burnt coffee and cigarettes (which I wasnt around) and it was so bad it made me constantly nauseous

[@Hybridflowerss]

I think this happened to me too!

[@itmefalco]

Ayo Siracha mayo is bussin

[@ThisisFit]

Love you Hank. It’s always a joy to hear you describe your experiences, even when you’re going through something difficult.

[@kqs3865]

I loved this. When I got Covid, I didn't lose sense of taste or smell, so I enjoyed seeing someone take advantage of it, though the rest of the situation is very unoptimal. Thank you, Hank, for giving us a great experiment in spite of super not fun circumstances.

[@belvedere6368]

When my family and I got Covid last year we all had such different reactions to losing smell/taste. Some of my family members were obsessed with finding what they could taste and ate more than they typically would. I lost all of my appetite and had to force myself to eat. I ended up losing a bunch of weight over the course of the month or so it was gone.

[@mykadassano438]

This video needs to be recreated now that you've healed! We need to see the redo!!!

[@CptPatch]

I feel threatened by how aggressively you're looking on the bright side. Get well Hank! For me, I DID end up losing most of my basic tastes. Every day once I noticed my smell failing I tried an array of strong flavors that I had lying around and by the time I started recovering I could only just barely sense a hint of flavor when squirting yellow mustard or vinegar on my tongue. The worst part was the fatigue and the months of enduring brain fog... The 6 months after covid was the only time since 2015 that I haven't studied something for fun, which felt like a real blow to my identity.

[@emma70707]

Yeah, I think people really underestimate just how devastating even relatively "mild" cases of Long Covid (you didn't mention being bed bound or needing to hire a carer which I assume you would have) can be to their sense of self. I had a bad "flu" pre-testing (Jan 2020) followed by only a month of mind-numbing fatigue and heart stuff and I still take essentially zero chances about catching it again.

[@efosdk2925]

That sounds awful! Has your sense of taste returned?

[@pendlera2959]

Yeah, I lost all of my taste except sweet and salty, and those were very weak. I couldn't taste sour, bitter, or umami at all. Thankfully, I've gotten most of my taste back, but my smell lags way behind. There are things I can taste but can't smell, like caramel.

[@efosdk2925]

@@pendlera2959 Good to hear most of it came back!

[@CptPatch]

​@@efosdk2925 Yeah, the taste has 100% returned. As far as my brain goes, I'm definitely way better than I was in the months immediately afterwards, but it's really hard to judge. Your biggest blind spot is always the one behind your eyes. I wouldn't recommend covid brain damage to anybody, 0/5 stars.

[@kat413]

The first time I went to Copenhagen, my friends and I got an assortment of pastries from a bakery, and I bit into what looked like a delicious chocolate cake ball only to find out IT WAS LICORICE! Needless to say I’m still not over that betrayal.

[@alexj9603]

Yes, northern Europe is obsessed with licorice 😖.

[@susanhillis5952]

It would take me decades to get over that betrayal, if I ever did, and I feel strongly that you should mention it at any and all possible provocations. “Did you say chocolate, man do I have a story for you”. “Toothpaste and orange juice, you say. That’s got nothing on my experience” etc

[@Fox-Mann-Fam]

Hope you're feeling better soon! This is a really fun way to explore how taste works without the smell component and I'm glad you're finding something bright here.

[@fearlessjlove13]

This is amazing and I can’t believe you hate pickles

[@vlogbrothers]

They're so bad. I think it was worse without smell.

[@TheFaraway8]

we only pickled things cuz before refrigeration we had to if you got a fridge, just let go of your pickled items, you don't need them anymore, fresh is better...

[@TheFaraway8]

* please correct me if I'm wrong, I will do the same. p.s. remember kids, you can't correct something that is a matter of opinion, only things that are a matter of fact.

[@CSNCSNCSN]

@@TheFaraway8 "Because we don't have to any more" is a silly reason to stop eating certain food types. The whole history of cooking (curing, preparing, etc.) is replete with methods derived from food preservation that became cultural traditions and evolved over time. Also by insisting on fresh foods you are exacerbating the problem of crops being grown out of season and/or shipped around the world (so they can last, what, a week in your fridge?) There are better and worse ways to make things more shelf-stable, but unless you live in a tropical paradise where fresh food rains down upon you 12 months of the year, insisting on "only fresh" is the privilege of wastefulness.

[@IMakeupStuff]

@@TheFaraway8 People don't continue to pickle things because they have to for preservation (though there are still quite a few places in the world that do not have widespread, reliable refrigeration), they do it because it adds flavor and texture complexity and is delicious.

[@allanolley4874]

Finally someone investigating the important questions about COVID related smell loss. It is surprising what comes down to smell versus taste etc.

[@jessecaalvarez-kuykendall7071]

If you don't usually eat it, you'd like goat cheese because it doesn't smell nearly as pungent as bleu cheese but has a similar salty/sweet thing going on. Especially good with herbs mixed in. *Chef's kiss*

[@borrellipatrick]

Have Crohn’s and understand the medication you're taking for what you have. It kills you a little bit but you need it because the auto immune disorder can do worse. Enjoyed the video also😅 You having a bright side with covid just experimenting with foods you normally don't like. That was alot of fun to watch

[@myphone-ph4hh]

It sucks needing to take drugs they almost always have negative side effects but as long as they arent worse that the original illness its better to take them but it still sucks 🙁 sorry

[@LittleLu609]

I learned that autoimmune diseases are really just delayed allergic reactions to foods. Dr. McDougall has a really great 1 hour lecture describing it in full detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nZzPm6h3p8mKi9k I hope this helps you. My husband is recovering from his autoimmune disease. He had to do McDougall's elimination diet and we found out that, in his case, the root of his autoimmune disease is a delayed allergic reaction to soy.

[@theceilidhinthemists]

I’ve had covid twice, and my sense of taste has changed forever - certain foods I used to hate are still awesome

[@sarjulia]

Ditto!

[@DanielaSerodio]

This is amazing. Prime internet content and a perfect call back to early days Vlogbrothers 👌 I hope you feel better soon, Hank!

[@nyktunr]

Hank, you’re a genius! When I lost my sense of smell from COVID, I totally didn’t think to eat foods I otherwise would never eat. Then again, I’m 6 months in and my sense of smell is, at best, only partly back. So maybe I should go try eating a pickle. Wishing you a speedy (and more complete than mine) recovery!

[@timnakautoga3512]

When I got Covid a couple months ago, I had thought I was in the clear. I had been vaccinated and had taken a booster shot so my symptoms were a bit more benign than others. I thought I was out of the woods when all of a sudden my apple cider just tasted like hot, sweet water. I was sad for a while as taste and smell are easily top 3 sensations. I'm lucky enough for the temporary loss of smell and taste to be the worst thing I went through. I was honestly contemplating buying raw kale and just munching down on it, but honestly, I never summoned the courage to do so, so thank you for being a hero and doing this.

[@dreamer7770]

I hope there's a part 2 to this for when your sense of smell returns! Would love to see your reactions to the foods again with sense of smell intact.

[@Hannah-wh3vo]

This threw me right back to when I had covid and spent a whole week in bed doing nothing but smell training. Alternating big whiffs from a scented fruity candle, coconut shampoo, Vic's vaporub, and a tin of coffee. I didn't really care that I lost my sense of taste (actually made eating a lot easier) but I was strangely heartbroken not to be able to smell. I cried the first time I huffed on that coffee and got the faintest bitter tang in the back of my nose. Hope you recover soon!

[@JRSkillin]

I love all of these foods, so it was great to see you being able to pick out the flavors that really make them delicious to me! I also have a brief story about a pre-covid cold where I lost my sense of smell: I was living in New Mexico and I had the worst cold I've ever had, probably exacerbated by the dry climate. I was on the upswing, and a friend decided to take me out for brunch (I know, I know - I absolutely would not go now) to this fantastic little cafe, where she ordered the hottest chile on the menu for me - I think it was carne adovada - and it was absolutely delicious. I couldn't taste the heat at all! I could tell that it was there, but all it did was clear out my nose!

[@NioneAlmie]

I watched this video a few months ago, and I enjoyed it so much that when youtube resuggested it to me just now, I watched it again. Quality content.

[@ilRosewood]

As someone who is going through COVID right now, I appreciated this video.

[@skylerwitherspoon]

This is actually so surprising, I hate a bunch of these foods too and it's wild how you actively like some of them now

[@UmbreonLibris]

I hate every single one of those foods except blue cheese. But even that has to be in small quantities.

[@MinkytheMinkY]

Hank has a presence and approach that elicits happy feelings in me. Thank you Hank. I'm a bit puzzled by the olives tho, bc tho I'm very sensitive to smells, i don't perceive olives to have a smell.

[@danielbickford3458]

When I caught covid last year, I didn't notice until after Shabbos that I had lost my sense of smell when I was smelling some spices. The worst part was after my sense of smell came back my sense of taste was messed up. Still is for that matter though it is getting better.

[@curiousKuro16]

I do hope your smell gets to come back to you. It's my biggest fear of COVID, losing the complexity and nuance of food that I love to cook.

[@moony2703]

Glad you’re finding at least some humour in all this. Also super interesting to know that even with things all in utter chaos, some things can still work for you.

[@BlankPicketSign]

I adore Blue Cheese, Olives, Pickles, Love love love and I have an extremely sensitive sense of smell. So watching this both horrifies me, but also makes me think of things I could eat I don't like if I ever get this symptom. PLEASE Let us know when your sense of smell returns and do a follow up, because my anxiety of loosing one of my key senses has not been good so any good news you have PLEASE share! Rest and get well soon ❤️ 🧡 💛 💚 💙 💜

[@AJGoff110]

2:37 That's the olive oil! The best part about olives is that they're full of fresh olive oil

[@djwriterkp]

I need a follow up to this where he eats all the foods over again when he's got his smell back

[@giuhd]

This video blessed me while I'm currently needing the blessing, I'm also going through covid and it took me some time to figure out my nose isn't working 100%, I might try eating things I don't like too. Thanks Hank!

[@marcellastname6862]

I've never had full range of smell which has gotten worse with age thanks to my chronic illness so this is gonna be interesting to me, a person who's frequently made fun for their weird taste in food

[@WardenPlays]

The way you described the taste of each and every single food is how I experience them. I lost my sense of smell in high school when I opened the septic tank for my trailer to fix a problem caused by our family living there for 20 years without regular maintenance. Apparently I had some form of poisoning, and I can no longer smell rotting meat, like spoiled chicken or beef.

[@danielle9074]

I always find it really interesting how widely humans can differ in these preferences. NO to anchovies. But like black liquorice. I LOVE olives, pickles and blue cheese, and particularly olives with things like blue cheese and garlic inside them. I doubt that Covid would change age my food preferences noticeably because my aversions revolve more around texture / mouthfeel. Not eager to test that hypothesis though...

[@zacrintoul]

I agree texture is definitely what breaks a food. I was going through my list of foods and was like... Nope none of the foods I dislike would have changed. And since I've already gotten COVID without having a loss of taste or smell I'm probably not going to get the chance to experience this. Though I'm not complaining.

[@annierichardson5296]

Crazy, isn't it? One of my sisters can't stand berries of any kind, cooked fruit, ketchup or olives, but LOVES stinky cheese, and really rich savory stuff. Another sister detests kale but loves broccoli. I can't stand licorice, stinky cheese or olives, and have always had a deep aversion to anything fermented, so I don't drink beer, wine or booze of any sort (alcohol just makes me sick sick sick), or eat fermented pickles, and don't particularly like sourdough bread. I've tried and tried to eat apricots and cantaloupe but they just makes me cry. And I'd rather retain these aversions than get covid.

[@gloriebluestein9721]

I think you might be right there. I have texture issues more than smell issues

[@charlesschmidt5100]

As someone who lost a ton of sense of smell because of COVID, I thought this cleared up a lot confusion for people how losing your sense of smell can change drastically your sense of taste. The biggest one for me is that chocolate tastes like onions (like really strong sulfurous onions) and onions have almost no flavor. Other things have changed a little here and there. But anyway, thanks for posting this Hank!

[@phirerising]

This was delightful to watch, thank you.

[@SeanGHOB]

I just came upstairs to lie down because covid makes me tired. Then I see Hank being all energetic for 4 minutes and I start to feel bad. Then he mentions how much rest he needs and I feel much better.

[@HelenRosemarySmith]

Rest up! Hope you feel better soon!

[@cbpd89]

Covid wiped me out for over a week the first time I got it. Just rest up, your body needs it!

[@nonexistingvoid]

this seems like something I'd try, just to find anything positive in such a situation. Glad it didn't hit you too hard, but I hope you're on your way to recovery by now. I heard it might takes some times for sense of smell to come back, so maybe you'll be able to enjoy liquorice and blue cheese a bit longer.

[@alicebershtein]

As someone with ARFID, I never thought I’d be so excited watching a video of someone eating foods they hate. It weirdly gave me some hope on my lifelong recovery journey, and I wonder, if I ever have the misfortune of contracting Covid, if i could conduct a similar experiment on myself. Very curious to see how your feelings on these foods might change as your senses return.

[@amys3168]

Wow, turns out we have very different tastes. Those were some of my fave foods. Good luck on your healing!

[@quintingell]

More people should be doing this test if they loose smell. I want all the information!

[@azaaellise]

+

[@breakdown4o148]

As someone who was born without a sense of smell I can say that I enjoy 95% of foods I’ve tried. And I don’t know what I’m missing in smells so I can’t really complain.

[@toomanyopinions8353]

Honestly, that's probably better. From what I know it applies to most disabilities that people who develop it sometime during life have a much harder time with it than people who are born with it. Which I think must go back to the whole not knowing what you are missing thing.

[@julianfernand0]

I always describe licorice as tasting like the smell of burned cables, like when an outlet is about to catch fire.

[@tapdance6767]

Oh my gosh! That’s it! That’s exactly what it tastes like. I couldn’t put my finger on it my entire life. Thank you.

[@curiousKuro16]

No but really black licorice is like that for me already. Sweet, a little bitter/sour, and this neat almost numbing sensation? It's magic and i love it. Also sassafras and horehound.

[@vlogbrothers]

Yeah, I got a little tongue tingle from it...like it was almost spicy!

[@curiousKuro16]

@@vlogbrothers !!! It's cool right?! Chemical candy consequences!

[@My-name-is-Kit]

@@curiousKuro16 off topic, but Chemical Candy would be a good band name.

[@confusedwhale]

@@vlogbrothers: Black licorice is great, but only enjoy it in moderation. It increases blood pressure; so, if you already have hypertension or have medication that increases your blood pressure... Just a heads up.

[@christenjarshaw2366]

I think this is my new favorite Vlogbrothers video

[@johnsnowdon2939]

Just posting here to say that I've had the same. I had really severe Covid symptoms around April 2020 - to the point where I had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance, pneumonia in both lungs, liver and kidney function problems and had an extended stay in isolation and recovery wards on oxygen for several weeks. Around 2-3 months later when I was starting to regain reasonable mobility once more, all my hair fell out (it grew back normally, fortunately). One thing which hasn't returned to normal is, like many here, my sense of smell. I still don't have around 85-95% of my sense of smell... nearly 2 years later. Taste is there, but I would describe it as very, very dulled. I can still pick out sweet, salty, savoury etc... but everything has to be really heavily seasoned to barely register... and even then sometimes I get nothing but the texture of the food.... which is a really bizarre (and depressing) experience. One thing common to other posters below is that my tolerance for spicy foods has gone up (mainly because I can't taste them), but it also plays havoc with actually cooking, because you can't smell what the food is doing. I also get an electrical burning smell now and again - even when there are no discernable smells around. I can't go to one of my favourite Italian restaurants because everything they do make now tastes of nothing, frankly 😞 However, compared to the outcome of some of the other patients I saw whilst in hospital... I count myself very, very lucky.

[@WhatsBliss]

When I was dealing with COVID it was soooo hard to cook. Seasoning dishes felt like trying to tie my shoes with boxing gloves. I'm really curious what Hank's opinion of the foods he liked will be with smell restored. Maybe new positive associations will help overcome previous aversions?

[@File_T]

This made my day. Thank you so much for posting this.

[@user-gj6jq5dk4z]

This was so entertaining! 😂😁 You definitely need rest after that energetic food tasting! Best wishes!

[@TitheGirl]

"there's 74% of your daily salt, so that's not a good food" ah yes, clearly Hank is not familiar with POTS life... which ironically I am only familiar with due to long covid 💀