How Smell Works

The body has five senses, and one of them is smell. When you smell, a process quite like that of taste happens.

When you sniff air into your nasal cavity, the air passes over the olfactory hairs. These hairs bond with very light molecules called odorants. Food, flowers, perfumes, and other objects with distinctive scents have odorants. When the olfactory hairs bond with the odorants, a chemical reaction takes place, thus sending an electrical signal to the brain. The brain processes the electrical signal and interprets it and sends back a command to the body to have a reaction.

Scientists used to think that the four main smells were: fragrant, fresh, spicy, and putrid.  Recent studies show that there are more than one hundred smells, maybe even thousands.

Tips for taking care of your nasal cavity:

Drinking plenty of water will help us not dehydrate, which damages the nasal cavity.

Keeping the air humid will help you breathe easily and snore less.

Do not poke objects or fingers in your nose since it can damage the inside.

Sniffing an onion will secrete a liquid that will clean your nose.