What Does It Mean When You Smell Toast?

What does it mean if it smells like toast?

Allergies – Congestion from allergies can temporarily damage your olfactory system and cause you to smell things that aren’t there, like burnt toast. Antihistamines can usually relieve congestion and improve the issue.

Why do I smell a metallic smell?

Neurodegenerative diseases – Vascular dementia and neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, can trigger a condition called dysgeusia. Symptoms of this taste disorder include:

a metallic or other unpleasant taste in the mouthwrong taste perceptionsno taste perception at all

This problem can be chronic. Experimenting with seasonings may help. Some people can detect a metallic smell or other odors that can’t be smelled by anyone else around them because the smells aren’t real. This condition is called phantosmia, an olfactory hallucination that’s often triggered by a sinus condition. Other causes include:

allergiesdental problemsexposure to smoke or air pollutionmigrainescancer treatments

Less common causes include:

head injurystrokeneurodegenerative disease, such as Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s disease

Phantosmia brought on by a sinus condition or other temporary health problem will usually disappear when your condition improves. When a metallic smell on your body or breath is the result of an underlying medical problem, you’ll likely have other symptoms that should prompt a visit to a doctor.

1. Gum disease, for example, can cause bleeding gums, while neurodegenerative diseases are accompanied by memory or thought problems or movement disorders.
2. If a metallic smell is your only symptom, and you can rule out the obvious triggers like medications, pregnancy, or exercising after consuming too few carbs, tell your physician.

A metallic taste in your mouth is also a symptom to share with a dentist. While a metallic smells cause may be benign, it’s worth investigating in case a serious underlying condition is present. A metallic smell on your body is typically a type of body odor triggered by handling copper or other metals.

It can also result from your body burning protein rather than glucose during a workout. A metallic taste in your mouth could be a sign of something simple, like a multivitamin packed with minerals, or it could be the result of cancer treatment or dementia. To figure out the cause, pay attention to any other symptoms you have and what you were doing prior to noticing that unmistakable scent of metal.

If it’s a common occurrence, tell a doctor and work together on a solution.

How do you stop Phantosmia?

Phantosmia Treatment – Treatment for phantosmia varies depending on the underlying cause. Possible treatment options include:

• Observation : About one-third of individuals with phantosmia will experience symptom improvement over time.
• Medications : Antipsychotics, antimigraine medicine, and antiseizure drugs can all be used to treat phantosmia.
• Surgery : Olfactory mucosa excision surgery may relieve phantosmia while preserving olfactory function.
• Other : Transcranial stimulation and topical cocaine application have been used to treat phantosmia.

Does phantosmia go away?

Main navigation – Smelling things that aren’t there is called phantosmia. It can be unpleasant and affect how things taste. But it isn’t usually serious and may go away by itself in a few weeks or months. See your GP if the strange smell doesn’t go away in a few weeks.

What is the burnt toast theory?

What is the ‘Burnt Toast theory’ on TikTok? – ‘The burnt toast’ theory, that’s currently doing the rounds on the social media platform, is the idea that when something annoying or frustrating happens – like burning your morning toast – it’s because it’s part of a bigger plan.

At its core, the Burnt Toast theory is about reframing life’s inconveniences and failures, and embracing the belief that everything that happens is part of a bigger plan for your life. It’s about giving reason to the moments of frustration. We know TikTok has a new trend every week, but this one certainly makes sense.

In a post that has gone viral on the social media platform, TikToker Ingrid shared the meaning behind it. Ingrid relays in her video, ‘I recently learned about the burnt toast theory and it’s really been helping me accept things that are out of my control.’ Explaining the concept, she continued, ‘Burnt toast theory is the idea that if you burn your toast before work and it adds five to 10 minutes to your trip, it’s actually saving you from something catastrophic.

• Maybe saving you from a car accident.
• Maybe saving me from someone who you don’t want to run into.
• But this is the idea that inconveniences in our lives, or when something releases us in the universe, it’s either saving us from something more detrimental or pushing us in the direction that we need to go in.’ She continues, ‘I’ve often struggled with accepting things that are out of my control and I’ve struggled with being an anxious person at times.

But adopting this and really thinking about it when I might be upset about something that is out of my control has really grounded me and allowed me to just have a little bit more peace in my life.’ The TikToker adds, ‘Of course, you won’t know exactly what the burnt toast has saved you from, but that’s not the point.

• The point is to allow you to accept things in life that are completely out of your control.
• Give you more peace and ground you.’ Another TikToker, Keirstin, explains how the theory has reframed the way she views dating – claiming that since she started using the burnt toast theory, her life has become exponentially better.

‘If somebody ghosts you, great, they just spared you from their inability to communicate,’ she says. ‘Someone tells you they’re just not feeling it? Awesome. Frees you up to find someone who is.’ Through her take on the theory it highlights that the burnt toast theory is also about sometimes accepting that when bad things happen, you might not know exactly why, but you simply have to trust that it was done for your greater good.

Why do I keep smelling burnt toast?

Phantosmia is when a person smells something that is not actually there. The smells vary between individuals but are usually unpleasant, such as burnt toast, metallic, or chemical smells. Possible causes range from nasal polyps to a stroke. Phantosmia is also called a phantom smell or an olfactory hallucination.

• Causes include problems with the nose, such as sinusitis, or conditions of the nervous system or brain, including migraine, stroke, or schizophrenia,
• In this article, we look at the causes and symptoms of phantosmia, when to see a doctor, and how to differentiate phantosmia from related conditions, such as parosmia.

This article explains everything to know about phantosmia, including its symptoms, causes, diagnosis, and treatment. Phantosmia is a disorder linked to a person’s sense of smell. It happens when a person can smell something that is not there. The smell may only appear on one side of the nose, or it may affect both nostrils.

Phantosmia is relatively uncommon. It makes up around 10-20% of disorders related to the sense of smell. In most cases, phantosmia is not a cause for concern and will go away on its own. However, in some cases, phantosmia can be a sign of a serious underlying condition, so people should always discuss this symptom with their doctor.

Some phantom smells are pleasant. However, people with phantosmia more often describe unpleasant, foul, or disgusting odors. These may include:

burnt toastburning rubbercigarette smokea chemical or metallic smella spoiled or rotting smella stale or moldy smell

People are often unable to identify the specific smell, or it may be a smell that they have never encountered before. Phantosmia can feel distressing and may get in the way of daily life. It can influence a person’s sense of taste, leading to a reduced appetite and weight loss.

• There may be additional symptoms that go along with phantom smells depending on the underlying cause of the phenomenon or any comorbidities.
• For example, research has shown that phantom smells can occur in people of younger age or people who also have symptoms of stress and anxiety in some cases.
• People may experience phantom smells for many reasons.

They may be related to the nose, when the condition is known as peripheral phantosmia, or to the brain, which is called central phantosmia. Problems with the nose or nasal cavity are the most common causes of smell-related disorders such as phantosmia.

nasal polyps tumorschronic sinus infectionsallergic rhinitis ( hay fever) non-allergic rhinitis

Otherwise, phantom smells can arise because of problems with how the brain understands smells. These include :

epilepsy or seizureshead traumamigraine, where phantosmia can be an aura Parkinson’s disease schizophrenia depression a strokecertain medications

When phantosmia is related to nose problems, people may notice a stronger smell in one nostril than the other. Saline rinses and anesthetic pads can often help reduce the smell. When phantosmia is related to the brain or central nervous system, the smells are often more persistent.

• They can be noticeable during the day and night, and both nostrils, rather than only one, experience the same smell.
• Phantosmia is often confused with parosmia, which is a distorted sense of smell.
• People with parosmia smell real-life smells, but the smells are distorted.
• For instance, the smell of flowers could trigger a smell of chemicals instead.

Many people with parosmia also describe the distorted smells as unpleasant. Parosmia can be disturbing, and symptoms can range from mild to severe. Severe parosmia may be debilitating. People with severe parosmia may have a hard time dealing with their symptoms, even temporarily.

To diagnose phantosmia, a doctor will first perform a physical exam of the person’s head and neck. They may ask about any other symptoms and perform tests to check the individual’s other senses. A doctor may order an endoscopy or rhinoscopy to look into the nasal cavity and check for issues that could cause phantosmia.

They may also request specific and comprehensive tests or refer people to a specialist. Imaging tests, including CT scans, MRI scans, and EEG scans, are sometimes used to check for abnormalities in the nasal cavity, brain, or nervous system. Treatment for phantosmia varies based on the underlying cause of the phantom smell.

Allergies: Treatment can include steroids and allergy shots. Smoking or exposure to toxins: A person may need to quit smoking and eliminate any known exposure to an unsafe chemical. Drug reaction: A person may need to stop taking the drug that may be causing the phantom smell. Potential medications that may cause phantosmia include antidepressants and antibiotics, However, a person should not stop taking such medications without first consulting with their doctor. For example, a person may need to finish a full course of antibiotics to fight off an infection or slowly taper off an antidepressant.

If the phantom smells are a result of trauma to the brain or a viral infection, a person may only be able to wait for symptoms to resolve on their own as they heal. A cause such as a brain tumor may involve surgery, as well as chemotherapy and radiation if the tumor is cancerous.

1. A person who has a bacterial infection can take antibiotics.
2. Each neurodegenerative disorder that can cause phantom smells involves its own treatment guidelines and medications.
3. People with chronic sinusitis or other long lasting nasal inflammation can talk with a doctor about the best treatment options.

Treating the underlying conditions should also address the phantom smell. If symptoms persist for more than a few days, doctors may first recommend simple treatments, such as using a saline solution to rinse out mucus from the nasal passages. Certain drugs may help people with long lasting phantosmia control their symptoms:

anesthetic to numb the nerve cellssteroid creams or sprays

In rare cases, doctors may turn to surgery to treat phantosmia. They do not always recommend surgery, as it may only work in specific cases such as dislodging inflamed mucus or polyps. Surgery also carries its own set of risks. Phantosmia is not usually a cause for concern, and it often clears up by itself.

1. It can also be a symptom of a more serious condition, so people experiencing phantom smells should see their doctor to check for underlying conditions or complications.
2. The best treatment will depend on the cause of phantosmia.
3. In some instances, the symptoms clear up on their own with time or when the sinus or nasal sickness that caused them goes away.

In other cases, phantosmia may be chronic or long lasting. Doctors will help a person identify the treatment that works best for them and may suggest other ways to minimize symptoms if possible.

Why do I smell burnt toast when I’m anxious?

Unusual Symptoms of Anxiety and What to do About Them Apr 03, 2019 10:00AM ● By WLMagazine by Kimberly Blaker Imagine, out of the blue you feel your brain spin 180 degrees at lightning speed as if fueled by an electrical current. This bizarre feeling isn’t lightheadedness, dizziness, or anything you’ve ever experienced. You panic and wonder, ‘Am I going crazy?’ Or worse, ‘Am I going to die?’ You try to brush it off when suddenly, it happens again.

1. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly one in five Americans will experience an anxiety disorder in a given year.
2. There are over 100 possible symptoms, many of which you’d never expect to be caused by anxiety.
3. For that reason, when they occur, they often exacerbate anxiety because of the worry the symptoms cause.

The following are some of the more bizarre symptoms of anxiety, though most are not uncommon. If you experience symptoms that persist, seek medical attention to rule out a medical cause since all the symptoms of anxiety can also be associated with various medical conditions.

Indigestion Anxiety can cause temporary or even chronic indigestion. Burping, passing gas, diarrhea, and heartburn can all be symptoms of anxiety. Phantom Ringing Tinnitus, which is a ringing in the ears, can be a sign of stress or anxiety and can be experienced in several ways. According to anxietycentre.com, you may hear buzzing, ringing, humming, whizzing, chirping, roaring, swooshing, or any number of other sounds.

Burning Sensation This unusual anxiety symptom can be felt on your skin, lips, tongue, and even in your eyes. It can feel like a sunburn despite no sunburn being present, a prickling sensation, or even shooting sparks. “There are over 100 possible symptoms, many of which you’d never expect to be caused by anxiety.” Heart Irregularities Skipped heartbeats, palpitations, or a racing heart can all be symptoms of anxiety.

What’s so troublesome is that it can be difficult to tell the difference between heart irregularities caused by anxiety versus a heart attack. When in doubt, seek medical treatment right away. Numbness or Tingling These feelings can occur in your hands, feet, arms, legs, or face. It can also be felt as physical weakness.

Excessive Yawning During anxiety attacks, hyperventilation is a common response leading your body to feel it isn’t getting enough oxygen. As a result, you might experience frequent yawning. Phantom Smell Phantosmia, which is an olfactory hallucination, sometimes occurs with anxiety.

It can cause you to smell something that isn’t there, or rather, a neutral smell becomes unpleasant. Brain Shivers Most often, this bizarre sensation is caused by antidepressants or withdrawal from them. However, sometimes it’s associated with anxiety. Brain shivers can range from mild to severe and feel different from person-to-person, though they usually last only a brief time.

“Brain shivers or zaps,” explains anxietycentre.com, “can feel like an electrical jolt or a shaking, vibration or tremor in the brain.” Phantom Vibrations If you’ve ever felt your phone vibrate, only to discover it didn’t, it could be caused by attachment anxiety.

• This is a very real phenomenon, according to a study reported by the University of Michigan in 2016.
• Tremors Numerous types of tremors can be caused by anxiety.
• In addition to shaking or trembling, other typical forms, according to calmclinic.com, include arm or leg spasms, cramping, or longer or slower shaking than usual.

Derealization This is a feeling of not being in reality. Anxietybc.com says this can be experienced in several ways. You may feel disconnected from the world and people around you, sort of like being in a dream state. Your perception of space, time, and the size of things may be distorted.

Everything might feel foggy or fuzzy or that you’re very ill or going crazy. Globus With this anxiety symptom, it feels like a lump in your throat, or you might have difficulty swallowing. Some people also feel a tightness in their throat. “During periods of high stress, get plenty of rest. This will help keep anxiety under control and result in fewer or less severe symptoms.” Eye Problems Blurred vision, dilated pupils, watery eyes, and shapes that float in front of the eyes can all be a result of anxiety.

Skin Rashes Stress can cause hives, itching, and rashes. If you already have rosacea or psoriasis, it can be aggravated by anxiety and stress. Shooting Pains These can be experienced in several areas of your body including your face, abdomen, arms, and chest during episodes of anxiety.

1. Freezing Hands and Feet Stress and anxiety can decrease your circulation.
2. As a result, your hands and feet may feel icy.
3. Alleviating Anxiety Depending on whether you have an actual anxiety disorder or the severity of the symptoms, an anti-anxiety or anti-depressant medication may be the solution.
4. But there are other things you can do as well to reduce anxiety and alleviate symptoms.

During periods of high stress, get plenty of rest. This will help keep anxiety under control and result in fewer or less severe symptoms. Also, practice slow breathing. Alice Boyes Ph.D. in her article, “Breathing Techniques for Anxiety,” says the key is to focus only on breathing out.

• While concentrating on slowly, steadily, and gently breathing out, allow the tension to flow out of your body and relaxation to flow in.
• Mindfulness meditation is another useful technique for reducing anxiety according to a growing body of research.
• You can start by meditating for just a few minutes each day and gradually increase it to longer periods.

Get some exercise. It doesn’t have to be a lengthy, hardcore workout. Even a 10-minute brisk walk can provide several hours of anxiety relief according to psychologists, says the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Finally, if your doctor has told you your symptoms are anxiety related, remind yourself of this when symptoms strike.

What smells should I worry about?

The smell of sulphur or rotten eggs almost always indicates an issue with gas supply. Natural gas is odorless, but suppliers treat the gas with a strong rotten egg smell to make gas leaks more detectable. If the smell is faint, but does not dissipate, turn off the furnace and ventilate your home.

Are phantom smells a symptom of a brain tumor?

Phantom smells caused by Brain Cancer Doctor Stuart Sanders, GP at the London General Practice, contributes to an article discussing phantosmia (or phantom smells) and how they can be a possible indicator of brain cancer. Experiencing non-existent foul smells and odours could be sign of cancer growing in the olfactory cortex or invading it from neighbouring tissues.

There are of course other causes of olfactory hallucinations and as an indicator of Brian cancer this symptom can be rare so it is important not to jump to conclusions but to book an appointment with a GP to discover the root cause.For more information read the full article by clicking the link below.If you are concerned about brain cancer or phantosmia and would like a full private health check or further advice then make an appointment at our private London doctor’s clinic by getting in touch with us,

: Phantom smells caused by Brain Cancer

When should I be concerned about phantom smells?

Phantosmia is usually temporary and should go away in a few weeks. But your symptoms may linger if a neurological issue is the cause. You should see a healthcare provider if phantom smells last for more than a few weeks.

Can phantosmia be harmless?

What is phantosmia? – A person with phantosmia may smell something that is not there. Phantosmia is a disorder linked to a person’s sense of smell. It happens when a person can smell something that is not there. The smell may only appear on one side of the nose, or it may affect both nostrils.

Phantosmia is relatively uncommon. It makes up around 10 to 20 percent of disorders related to the sense of smell. In most cases, phantosmia is not a cause for concern and will go away on its own. However, phantosmia can be a sign of a serious underlying condition, so people should always discuss this symptom with their doctor.

Some phantom smells are pleasant, but people with phantosmia more often describe unpleasant, foul, or disgusting odors. These may include:

burnt toast burning rubber cigarette smoke a chemical or metallic smell a spoiled or rotting smell a stale or moldy smell

People are often unable to identify the specific smell, or it may be a smell that they have never encountered before. Phantosmia can feel distressing and may get in the way of daily life. It can influence a person’s sense of taste, leading to a reduced appetite and weight loss.

What kind of brain tumor causes phantosmia?

Phantosmia and dysgeusia as the first presentation of glioblastoma.

Does Covid cause metallic smell in nose?

Key Takeaways –

Some people recovering from COVID-19 report that foods taste rotten, metallic, or skunk-like, describing a condition called parosmia.COVID-19 can damage olfactory receptors in the nose or the parts of the brain necessary for smelling.There’s no way of knowing when a person’s sense of smell will return to normal, but smell training may help.

Losing the sense of taste and smell is commonly associated with COVID-19. However, it’s not the only smell dysfunction that people might experience. People recovering from COVID-19 are also reporting that the smell of rotting meat seems to follow them everywhere.

• Normal odors may even suddenly smell rotten, metallic, or skunk-like.
• These individuals describe a condition called parosmia where odors become distorted.
• A 2021 study found that almost half of the survey participants who had parosmia and a confirmed case of COVID-19 recovered their sense of smell in about three months.

For some people, the condition lasts much longer than that. A young woman recently went viral on TikTok for talking about her ongoing experience with parosmia, which started around ten months ago. According to experts, parosmia may occur if COVID-19 damages olfactory receptors in the nose or affects the parts of the brain necessary for the sense of smell.

How is phantosmia caused?

What causes olfactory hallucinations (phantosmia)? – Answer From Jonathan Graff-Radford, M.D. An olfactory hallucination (phantosmia) makes you detect smells that aren’t really there in your environment. The odors you notice in phantosmia are different from person to person and may be foul or pleasant.

You may notice the smells in one or both nostrils. The phantom smell may seem to always be there or it may come and go. Phantosmia may be caused by a head injury or upper respiratory infection. It can also be caused by aging, trauma, temporal lobe seizures, inflamed sinuses, brain tumors, certain medications and Parkinson’s disease.

Phantosmia can also result from COVID-19 infection. Talk to your health care provider if you have symptoms of phantosmia, so that they can rule out any serious underlying disorders that may be causing olfactory hallucination. Parosmia is another smell disorder that’s similar to phantosmia.

Do you actually smell burnt toast before a stroke?

If you’re smelling burnt toast, the first thing you should probably do is check your toaster. Although lots of people think smelling something burning is a sign of a stroke, there’s no solid evidence this is true. The idea of smelling phantom burning toast may be kind of amusing — but strokes are serious.

They affect approximately 795,000 Americans each year — and around 137,000 of those people die as a result. While most people who have strokes are men, most of those who die are women, particularly Black women, who are more likely to die from a stroke than non-Hispanic white women. We reached out to Dr.

Gayatri Devi, a clinical professor of neurology and director of Park Avenue Neurology in New York and member of HealthyWomen’s Women’s Health Advisory Council, to get more information about symptoms, risk factors and how to decrease your stroke risk.

Who is burnt toast?

Many of the names were artists of which we have already spoken on our magazine, others have been very interesting surprises. Among these my first choice was the Canadian illustrator, fresh and crazy Scott Martin aka Burnt Toast Creative.

Why do people burn toast?

Here’s Why Some People Purposefully Burn Their Food It’s the kitchen mistake we all try to avoid above all else: Don’t burn the food. You can save the dinner that you, You can add dairy or acid to tame the spice when you accidentally dump in, But once those forgotten roasted onions have turned a deep shade of black in the oven, once they’ve crisped to heaps of allium ash, there’s no going back.

1. And yet, there are those weirdos out there that loved burned food.
2. We all know them.
3. They’re the human vacuums for neglected chocolate chip cookies; the scramblers for the dry, crisp edge of the brownie pan; the charred marshmallow and steak and vegetable enthusiasts.
4. Are these people simply freaks? To get some answers, I spoke to an official source who bravely agreed to go on record: my stepdad, Frank, who eagerly consumed all the cookies I burned in my high school years.

“The burning adds depth to the flavor,” he said. “In the case of cookies, you don’t just have something that’s flatly, overwhelmingly sweet.” He explained that he likes that added note of bitterness, of char. “There’s also a textural element. I like when the bottom of the cookie is burned and extra crispy and the top is nice and soft.” She microwaves popcorn well past the time when the last few kernels pop—she just lets it keep going until the kernels combust from within and melt into each other.

My coworker Adina also has a loved one with an affinity for burned food: her sister. “I can’t understand it myself, but from what I’ve observed in her it’s a textural thing,” Adina told me. “She wants the crispy edge piece of the brownies, and the mac and cheese, which I can relate to. Where she goes that I can’t is, she seems to crave the almost carbon-like flavor of burned food, when it’s turned from dark brown to black.

She microwaves popcorn well past the time when the last few kernels pop—she just lets it keep going until the kernels combust from within and melt into each other. This incredibly acrid smell would fill the house growing up, and cause all of us a lot of suffering.

1. One time my dad grabbed the microwaved popcorn bag and threw it outside into the snow.” In defense of our family members, burning food does enhance flavor.
2. After all, is a coveted cooking phenomenon.
3. As food browns and caramelizes, amino acids and sugars are rearranged, producing complex, savory flavors.

This chemical reaction gives food a savory, umami, and—when it really gets black—bitter flavor. Photo by Shutterstock : Here’s Why Some People Purposefully Burn Their Food

Who found toast?

This post is brought to you by the generous gift of Alex Leitch, a gentlewoman and a Twitterer, In the beginning (or near enough), there was bread. But in the beginning there was no grocery store, baker, fridge or freezer, so a lot of this bread became stale.

Probably at some point, somebody got fed up with stale bread and tossed a piece of it in the fire, or at least meant to. Instead, it landed nearby, browned in the glow of the flames, someone found it, bit into it, and voila: toast. A lot of early inventions must have sparked from such frustration. The Egyptians generally get credit for leavened bread: the British Museum houses 5,000 year old Egyptian loaves, and King Tut was buried with a stalk of wheat, the symbol of Royalty.

But Romans usually get the credit for toast. Whether they actually discovered that fire plus bread equals an entirely different savory golden-brown treat, or whether they just liked the idea and popularized it, is uncertain, but either way they took charge of the branding.

1. Tostum” is Latin for scorched, and toast was made by putting stale bread on a stone near fire, and later, on a wire frame over fire.
2. For the next several hundred years, toast and bread were—in a way that is hard to fathom in the era of gluten-free everything—a hot-button issue.
3. While his subjects toasted brown bread in abundance, Caesar made the serving of brown bread to a Roman elite a crime punishable by prison time.

Years went by, empires rose and fell, the toasting fork was invented, and bread remained central to Western culture. In the 17 th century, bakers were so important in French society that George Sand declared their power was second only to the church. The French passion for bread was both patriotic and a little weird: “The French believed the baker’s oven to be the national womb,” writes Stewart Allen in In the Devil’s Garden, “and the baguette to be the penis.” An unmarried daughter was often told to sit atop a bread oven to make her appear more attractive to potential suitors. But the French were not the only ones to find bread sexy. The Italians had a tradition of copulating in wheat fields in order to ensure pregnancy, hence the pregnancy slang, “she’s got a bun in the oven.” Meanwhile, in England, John Aubrey recorded the practice of making “cockle bread” thus: “Young wenchesget upon a table-board, and then gather up their knees and their coates with their hands as high as they can then they wabble to and fro with their buttocks as if they were kneading of dough with their arses.” Bread made from this dough was to be served to whoever the said wench had a crush on.

After eating it, the gentleman in question would fall in love. Passion for bread mixed with politics and produced the French Revolution: tired of the coarse rye and barley bread they were forced to buy, the peasants demanded the soft white wheat bread of the aristocrats. Throughout the 18 th century there were riots, until a bread shortage led to massive protests and Marie Antoinette suggested perhaps the rioters focus their energies elsewhere: “Let them eat cake.” Instead of new breads, the peasants began to demand heads.

Bread was not the only food that the French peasants had to eat, and it was not just hunger that drove the bread riots. It was also a desire for what good bread represented: pleasure, comfort, and leisure—all luxuries unavailable to peasants. When Toad of A Wind in the Willows goes to jail, he’s rescued from prison by the jailer’s daughter, who fortifies him for escape with piping hot tea and “very hot buttered toast, cut thick, very brown on both sides, with the butter running through the holes in great golden drops, like honey from the honeycomb.” Toad, a properly tweedy English country gentleman despite his warts and webbed fingers, is deeply moved.

The smell of toast and tea reminds him of “warm kitchens, of breakfasts on bright frosty mornings, of cosy parlour firesides on winter evenings, when one’s ramble was over and slippered feet were propped on the fender, of the purring of contented cats, and the twitter of sleepy canaries” To achieve this level of cozy domesticity in the century before the invention of electricity required a fire, some spare time, and a toasting fork.

Though making toast in the 19 th century sounds like a meditative activity—staring into flames and turning a fork in a cloud of buttery toast smell—the people doing the toasting quite often weren’t the people enjoying the toast. As anyone who’s seen Downton Abbey knows, there was a very clear distinction between the class that made their own toast, and the class that enjoyed toast made by servants.

• A wealthy owner of a country estate, like Toad or the Earl of Grantham, would not have made his own toast unless it amused him.
• Before electricity made the toaster possible, the toast-makers of the world were in a continuous struggle to make toasting easier: first the hot stone, then the wire frame, then the toasting fork.

But after the toasting fork, there didn’t seem to be anywhere to go. As Thomas George Harold of Brooklyn stated in his 1865 patent for a new and improved toasting fork design: “various devices have heretofore been made for toasting bread, broiling meat, &c, all of which have been more or less costly to manufacture and unhandy to operate.” A look through patent records gives the impression that the toasting fork was the iPhone App of the Victorian Age: everyone wanted to invent the next best one. There were three-pronged and two-pronged forks, forks with small trays below the prongs to keep the toast from falling in the fire, and forks with racks instead of prongs so that more than one piece of toast could be made at once.

• There was even, for the toast-lover on the go, the “telescopic toasting fork,” which was pocket-sized when unneeded but which slid out of its own handle (like a radio antenna) when a sudden need for toast arose.
• Given this mania for the next best toasting fork—not to mention our historic obsession with bread—it’s not so surprising that the toaster was the first household electrical appliance to appear once electricity was invented, second only to the lamp.

Victorians’ priorities: (1) light, (2) toast. Unfortunately the first toaster, introduced in 1893 by the British Crompton and Company, wasn’t actually very good. It was a dangerous appliance, with all its wiring on the outside, and it only toasted one side of the bread at a time. But improvements came fast and thick, in a slew of new patents, and by 1920 the first pop-up toaster with a timer was introduced by a Minnesotan named Charles Strite, who had long been bemoaning the burnt toast in his company cafeteria and decided to do something about it.

• Sliced bread followed shortly after, in 1928, and toaster sales boomed.
• Toaster patents mostly came from Great Britain and America, where the European love of toast had taken root and flourished even as stale bread became an easily preventable issue.
• In Britain it was integral to both tea time and breakfast.

Though they did not adopt tea-time, the necessity of toast at breakfast was a preference that the first British in America did bring with them, and today egg dishes at restaurants across the country still invariably come with toast. Endless variations flew back and forth between the continents: toast with butter, toast with jam, beans on toast, peanut butter toast, cheese toast, Texas toast, egg and soldiers, toad-in-a-hole Today, seventy-five million Americans eat toast every day, and, according to a staggering Harris Survey, ten percent of them would rather eat toast in the morning than have sex.

Husbands, wives and lovers apparently take a backseat to toast in the wee hours. Yet we don’t really need to toast bread anywhere, since stale bread is a non-issue for anyone with a freezer. Gwyneth Paltrow is always telling us how bad bread is for us anyway. And toast is no longer a sign of unattainable privilege; in fact it’s generally the cheapest of edible indulgences.

So why this continued obsession? Perhaps, as Margaret Atwood wrote in Oryx and Crake, “toast cannot be explained by any rational means.” So few of our obsessions can. Baker’s oven image via, Mary Mann writes a column on dead essayists for Bookslut, among other things.

Why do I get phantom smells randomly?

Phantosmia is a condition that causes you to detect smells that aren’t actually in your environment. It can happen in one nostril or both — and the odors may be foul or pleasant. Common causes include colds, allergies, nasal polyps and dental issues. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.

Can stress and anxiety affect your sense of smell?

5. Stress adversely affects the nervous system – Even though the stress response is beneficial when we’re in real danger, the stress response has a dramatic effect on the nervous system. When the nervous system becomes hyperstimulated, it can cause many nerve and nervous system anomalies, including affecting the olfactory sensory cells that are responsible for the sense of smell.

Why do I keep thinking I smell?

What Is Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS)? – Olfactory reference syndrome (ORS), also known as olfactory reference disorder, is an underrecognized and often severe condition that has similarities to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). People with ORS think they smell bad, but in reality they don’t.

There’s a profound mismatch between their own perception and the perception of other people. People with ORS may worry, for example, that they have bad breath or bad-smelling armpits, or that they emit a foul odor from their genitals, anus (often flatulence), feet, skin, or other body area. People with ORS may worry about emitting a bad body odor from any part of their body; the types of odors and body areas listed here are just some examples.

The odor concerns cause significant emotional distress or interfere with the person’s day-to-day functioning (usually both).

Can PTSD cause phantom smells?

Can Hallucinations Occur as a Symptom of PTSD? Q: Can hallucinations occur as a symptom of PTSD? A: Yes, hallucination can occur as a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)! For example, one documented case of such a situation was with a a client who had olfactory hallucinations; she would smell the body odor of the man who molested her as a child.