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We're back

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before the break, we asked smell accounts for upwards of 1% of our taste of flavor.

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A 20%

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b 50%

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or c

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80%.

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Were you able to sniff out the correct answer? If you said c 80%

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you've got a nose for good taste.

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Scientists can't agree on an exact percentage

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but general consensus is that smell accounts for 70 to 80% of how we perceive flavor.

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This explains why when you're sick or stuffed up foods can become flavorless.

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The main tastes you get from taste buds alone are sweet,

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sour,

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bitter,

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salty

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and umami

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individual distinct flavors come from smell.

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If you want to be a super taster,

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you have to be a super smeller. First

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smell is one of our five senses.

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It's a direct sense and often the first response to stimuli,

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you can smell what someone is cooking for dinner before you see it

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or know a skunk has been in the area without ever seeing it.

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Mhm

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One study found that people raised in the

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United States associated the smell of lemon with cleanliness

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because it's used in common cleaning products.

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However, people in rural Italy associated the same smell with rot

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because it was a smell they encountered on

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lemon orchards ripening in the summer heat.

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So while smells are determined by genes,

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the memories and associations we link to them are individual to everyone.

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The association between mood and smell is why some car companies

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employ smell designers to get that perfect new car smell.

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Real estate agents are also known to use the smell of fresh baked

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cookies to help make potential buyers feel at home during an open house.