By Lisa Frania, Guest Blogger

Wake up and smell the coffee

If you’re like me, smelling the bold aroma of my favorite coffee and enjoying every caffeinated drop is the motivation I need to roll out of bed in the morning and start my day out right.  

But now, being able to smell that coffee (any time of the day) does more than just get you out of bed. It’s actually one of the easiest ways to determine if you have one of the most distinct symptoms of COVID-19. 

Smell loss, called anosmia, is a symptom that 44-77 percent of people with COVID-19 suffer, some estimates suggest. Fast Company states that “if you had to pick just one symptom, sudden smell loss may be the single best predictor of a COVID-19 diagnosis.”  

So as odd as it sounds, if you lose your sense of smell, that’s actually a good sign of a possible COVID-19 infection. 

Unfortunately, many people don’t even realize they’ve lost their sense of smell. That’s because COVID-19 noses don’t necessarily act like a common cold and get stuffy enough to physically block the smell receptors in the nose. Instead, the COVID-19 virus blocks the signals that the nose uses to detect odors, causing the loss of smell.  

In response, experts suggest we all faithfully perform a DIY COVID test. This test offers rapid response, is convenient and free (tasty too)!  

Step 1: Take a whiff of your ground coffee before making a pot.  

Step 2: See how far away you can hold it and smell it.  

Step 3: Then (of course) enjoy that brew!   

Delish suggests continuing to use this “sniff and swig of coffee” method as a way to monitor your system—and more awesomely, to keep that caffeine pumping through your veins at the same time. 

DISCLAIMER: But hold the (coffee) press—not everyone infected with COVID-19 reports smell loss. Just because you can smell things, doesn’t necessarily mean you are COVID-free. If you were able to smell your coffee this morning, that’s a messy result. It might mean you don’t have COVID-19—but it could also mean that you are infected and just didn’t lose your normal ability to smell.  

Thankfully, although it’s a pain (in the nose), loss of smell appears to be temporary. 

And if you’re recovering from COVID-19, your sense of smell may be distorted, making things smell differently—rather unpleasant, actually. But the news is good. That means you’re making progress toward the tissue in the nose returning to normal.  

Besides your habitual cup of coffee, DIY COVID tests could include something else that has an odor like your shampoo, kitchen spices, flowers or our Morning Ritual Candle.  

Since it won’t catch 100 percent of the cases, wear that mask, social distance, take your temperature and self-isolate if needed—these are all important pandemic behaviors to help curb the spread. 

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