Tiktok: Do Burnt Orange and Brown Sugar hack restore taste and smell after covid?

There is a Jamaican remedy on Tiktok claiming burnt orange and brown sugar restore lost sense of taste and smell after COVID-19. How true is this hack?

One of the irritating side effects of COVID-19 is a persistent loss of smell and taste — and some are prepared to do practically everything to regain those sensations.

Many individuals on tiktok posted videos showing themselves burning an orange, then chopping off the charred skin and combining the fruit with a couple of spoonfuls of brown sugar to make a mixture that, when consumed, purportedly restores one’s senses.

Does it work?

There is no scientific proof that consuming a burnt orange combined with brown sugar may return one’s senses after temporarily losing them, according to experts.

The TikTok success tales indicate a fortunate handful who may have been recovering their senses prior to attempting the hack.

“I had COVID over a month ago and I still don’t have my taste or smell back, so I’m going to try this TikTok witchery and see if it works,” Tiktok user @anniedeschamps2 said.

After trying the hack Annie Deschamps said she doesn’t think it worked.

A Facebook user claimed the burnt orange and brown sugar hack worked after trial. “I lost my smell and taste when I had covid at the beginning of November. And I never got it back. A couple of people sent me a TikTok of cooking an orange until it basically bursts open and peeling it and mixing it with brown sugar and eating it to regain those senses,” She said.

“Well, today I tried it and to my surprise, it worked.” She added. The post has been flagged as False Information by Facebook.

Researchers discovered that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, affects cells that support smell-detecting neurons.

Pamela Dalton, a researcher at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia with a degree in experimental psychology, told NBC’s Today that it’s possible that those who tried to burn orange to regain their senses had already recovered some smell and taste abilities and weren’t aware of it.

“People often don’t know how much smell they lost, so if they do something that’s really intense, like burning an orange peel, that will give you an extraordinary sensation, you may have already had an ability, but you’ve essentially shocked your system into smelling something strong,” she said.

According to the British Medical Journal, 90 percent of COVID-19 patients notice an improvement in their sense of smell after four weeks of infection.