Tobacco Influence on Taste and Smell: Systematic Review of the Literature

Abstract

Introduction In Brazil, estimates show that 14.7% of the adult population smokes, and changes in smell and taste arising from tobacco consumption are largely present in this population, which is an aggravating factor to these dysfunctions. Objectives The objective of this study is to systematically review the findings in the literature about the influence of smoking on smell and taste. Data Synthesis Our research covered articles published from January 1980 to August 2014 in the following databases: MEDLINE (accessed through PubMed), LILACS, Cochrane Library, and SciELO. We conducted separate lines of research: one concerning smell and the other, taste. We analyzed all the articles that presented randomized controlled studies involving the relation between smoking and smell and taste. Articles that presented unclear methodologies and those whose main results did not target the smell or taste of the subjects were excluded. Titles and abstracts of the articles identified by the research strategy were evaluated by researchers. We included four studies, two of which were exclusively about smell: the first noted the relation between the perception of puff strength and nicotine content; the second did not find any differences in the thresholds and discriminative capacity between smokers and nonsmokers. One article considered only taste and supports the relation between smoking and flavor, another considered both sensory modalities and observes positive results toward the relation immediately after smoking cessation. Conclusion Three of the four studies presented positive results for the researched variables.

Influences of Age, Sex and Smoking Habit on Flavor Recognition in Healthy Population

“…The effects of smoking habit on taste or flavor are still not univocal [37][38][39][40]. A recent systematic review pointed out the level of controversy of the existing studies on this topic [41]. The results of the present study suggested no differences between smokers and non-smokers in flavor and taste recognition, as well as in specific taste identification.…”

Effect of physiological factors, pathologies, and acquired habits on the sweet taste threshold: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…The effect of tobacco consumption on taste threshold changes has been studied, and it has been reported that there smoking may have a slight influence (Da Ré et al., 2018). It is thought that nicotine may alter the perception of quinine hydrochloride, a molecule commonly used as a bitter tastant (Krut et al., 1961), indicating that bitter taste is the taste type most likely affected (Chéruel, Jarlier, & Sancho‐Garnier, 2017).…”

“…Therefore, in the current study, we hypothesize that the sweet threshold in humans is not static, and it is influenced by physiological factors, pathologies, and acquired habits. A systematic review and meta‐analysis on the influence of the usual descriptive physiological variables (e.g., age or sex), metabolic pathologies with the highest prevalence (e.g., obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM; Blüher, 2019; Glovaci, Fan, & Wong, 2019), and lifestyle habits most commonly described as perception modifiers (e.g., alcohol drinking and smoking habits; Da Ré et al., 2018; Silva et al., 2016) in sucrose DT and RT were performed, and the extent of the threshold differences was discussed, with the aim of providing new evidence on this subject.…”

A review of tobacco abuse and its epidemiological consequences

“…A systematic review on smokers and non-smokers perceptions of visually unappealing cigarette sticks concludes that an individual’s smoking behavior is influenced by the appearance of the cigarette (Drovandi et al 2018 ), and therefore, normally from a marketing perspective, cigarettes may have physical attributes that are either appealing or non-appealing to consumers in terms of size, color, and health warnings written on the cigarette packs. Accordingly, a cigarette is appealing to the consumer based on visual, olfactory or other perceptual or cognitive signals that influence the user’s apparent taste, smell, and chemisthetic flavor (Da Ré et al 2018 ; O'Connor et al 2020 ).…”