Eating a burnt orange will not make your taste and smell come back

• TikTok users are eating burnt oranges to bring back their post-COVID flavor and smell.
• The remedy involves charring an orange over an open fire and eating the hot fruit with brown sugar.
• Doctors say this hack is not backed by science, but odor training can help.
• Visit the Insider home page for more stories.

Loss of taste and smell is a common symptom of COVID-19 and, for some people, these sensory problems can persist for months.

Some TikTokers who have temporarily lost their sense of taste and smell to the virus have made the most of it, filming taste tests and drinking alcohol (which apparently still burns).

Others tried to regain consciousness and a supposed correction involving a burnt orange and brown sugar went viral.

In a clip that had over two million views at the time of publication, chelsiehill_ charred an entire orange on a gas stove, removed the blackened peels and mashed the fruit with a few tablespoons of brown sugar.

Read More: The worst TikTok health trends of 2020

Like some others who tried to hack, she managed to taste it after eating the hot mixture – but she wrote in the caption that the burnt orange may just be a temporary solution.

Another TikToker, madisontaylorn, said she had 10% taste before eating the burnt orange and believes that the so-called Jamaican remedy led to 80%. Others were not so successful.

There is no scientific evidence to support this remedy

There is no scientific reason why eating a burnt orange would help someone regain their taste or smell, otorhinolaryngologist Jay Piccirillo told Insider. TikTok’s success stories represent a lucky few who may already be regaining their senses before attempting the hack.

COVID anosmia, or loss of smell, is believed to be caused by damage to the structures around the nerves associated with the smell, Piccirillo said.

Read More: How coronavirus symptoms differ from flu, common cold and allergies on a graph

This makes the recovery of smell – and taste, which is closely linked to smell – after COVID-19 more complicated than recovering from a common cold. Although a stuffy nose can also interfere with smell, it would be easier to treat it with nasal spray or decongestant, which probably wouldn’t work for COVID-related anosmia.

“There are millions of things out there, particularly for diseases like COVID-related anosmia, to which traditional medicine doesn’t really have an answer,” said Piccirillo. “We just don’t have any drugs or treatments that work, so when you go online, you see tons of alternative treatments.”

Olfactory training can help reconnect your brain to smell again

For those who have lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19, olfactory (or olfactory) training can offer a path to healing. This form of therapy involves taking a deep breath of a strong smell like cinnamon, mint or citrus fruits and focusing on the memory of the smell.

“We think it works with neuroplasticity, the brain’s ability to change,” Piccirillo told Insider. “Our brains are constantly changing as we learn and experience new things. And with COVID’s anosmia, in one way or another, the nerves in the olfactory system have been altered by COVID.”

Read More: Meet the ‘long-haulers’: a growing chorus of coronavirus patients have had symptoms for over 100 days

By practicing “smelling” essential oils or aromatic foods, it will be possible to reconnect the neural connections associated with smell, Piccirillo said. He is currently working on an ongoing clinical trial of olfactory training with COVID-19 survivors at Washington University St. Louis.

“The sooner you start training after the insult, the more likely it is that the brain has the ability to go back to what it was before,” said Piccirillo. “It is quite possible that the brain will remain plastic, or be able to change, during that short period since COVID.”