Naked Science Forum

General Science => General Science => Topic started by: Carolyn on 17/01/2008 04:41:38

Title: Tasting Incense
Post by: Carolyn on 17/01/2008 04:41:38

Right now I have a cold.  My head is stuffy and I can't breathe through my nose.  This afternoon I burned incense and found that I had an even harder time breathing.  I couldn't smell it, but I could taste it. It burned my throat and the taste it left in mouth was almost like I had been smoking.  I normally love the smell of incense and burn it frequently.  Why can I taste it now that I'm sick?

Title: Tasting Incense
Post by: JnA on 17/01/2008 05:11:30

your sense of taste consists mostly of smell. You can test this by blindfolding and blocking the nose of a person, have the eat something and see if they can identify it (they usually have trouble).

I guess with your smell blocked you failed to notice the nice aroma that usually masks the reality of smoke inhalation.. that is what you are experiencing now.

Title: Tasting Incense
Post by: JimBob on 17/01/2008 18:26:22

Totally right on the mark.

Title: Tasting Incense
Post by: Carolyn on 18/01/2008 03:51:19

Thank you JnA and JimBob.

Now I'm wondering if the smoke from the incense is as unhealthy as cigarette smoke.

Title: Tasting Incense
Post by: JnA on 18/01/2008 06:17:33

I think it's fair to say that smoke of any kind can be harmful to you.

It's doubtful that incense smoke is *as* unhealthy as cigarette smoking, in that cigarettes have many more chemicals and are consumed in greater amounts than incense.

I guess it's a case of do the benefits of burning incense outweigh the potential harm of the byproduct.