My Marlboro NEVER tasted this good!

If you’ve been vaping for a while, you’ve most likely learned just how bad cigarettes taste in comparison. That’s because your taste buds are having a field day with all the new flavors (not to mention none of the toxins that practically put your taste buds to sleep). We have talked in the past about how vaping can have a positive effect on your wallet, your health and even what you smell like. But let’s talk about another benefit, one that hasn’t been discussed much in pro and anti-vaping circles – the effect of vaping on how much more you enjoy flavors.

While you may not notice how much tobacco smoke dulls your senses it usually becomes noticeable once you quit. Smoking may be the cause of numerous types of cancers, cardiovascular diseases and a myriad of other smoke related health risks, however very few smokers are aware of how much smoking significantly impairs both the sense of smell and taste.

When smoking, the taste buds are put in direct contact with chemical compounds found in tobacco smoke that tend to blunt the ability of the buds to register the four basic tastes that the system is designed to recognize: salty, sweet, sour and bitter. While the blunting chemicals do not completely destroy the ability of the taste buds to recognize the four basic tastes, the degree of recognition is significantly decreased.

At the same time, smokers also inhale and exhale cigarette smoke through both the nose and mouth. The chemicals in cigarette smoke dull the ability of olfactory nerves to register the aromas of foods. Since the sense of taste is actually a combination of both taste and smell, smoking tends to impair it by interfering with both forms of sensory recognition and damaging mucous membranes.

Smokers undergo changes to their senses with a diminished ability to taste certain foods or flavors. When smell and taste become impaired, we eat poorly, socialize less, and feel worse. These senses warn us of dangers, such as fire, poisonous fumes, and spoiled food and problems with these senses can have a big impact on our lives. Deteriorating smell impacts our overall quality of life, and it’s hard to argue – a life without smelling bread baking, flowers in bloom, cut grass, a favorite whiskey or wine, smoky bacon, warm toast or a partner’s fragrance is a life compromised. Smell and taste contribute to our enjoyment of life by stimulating a desire to eat – which not only nourishes our bodies, but also enhances our social and psychological activities.

Fortunately, quitting smoking leads to a rapid reversal of this process unlike the many other secondary effects of smoking which can last years. This is good news because you’re going to feel like you are re-discovering a sensory world.

While you begin vaping and your senses recover, you’ll experience a change in how nearly everything tastes. This means that flavor preferences you had while you were a smoker may drastically change, and will continue to evolve for several weeks to months. Since senses are dulled, many smokers favor intensely flavored foods and stronger scents. As the senses sharpen when you switch to vaping, more subtle foods and scents may become preferable and former favorites may become hard to stand. This also holds true when it comes to the smell of cigarette smoke.  This is a natural process of regaining the senses.

We would also argue that vaping is not only better for your nose and your taste buds, but that it can sometimes work as a food or drink enhancer. Because vaping doesn’t have to smell and taste like a cigarette (though it can if you’d like), its variety of flavors can work as an accompaniment or compliment to your meal.

Would you like a sweet taste after a meal, but without the calories? Try Mom’s Apple Pie, Banana Crème or Snowman’s Kiss. Want a muffin taste to go with your morning coffee? Try the Blueberry Muffin or Banana Nut Bread. Are you used to a smoke with your coffee break? Go for an old-fashioned Flue Cured, Honey Cured or caramel-y Swagger. Do American cigarettes go with bourbon in your life? We’d recommend the Western Blend or Western Menthol.

What’s even more exciting is that vaping technology is constantly evolving and innovating, so you can expect more flavors, more meal enhancements and more reasons not to smoke in the months and years to come. What are you waiting for?

Let us know what your favorite flavor is in the comments below.