There have been several side benefits to increasing the protein in my daily diet, but one of the oddest ones is that I’ve regained my sense of smell. Not that I had completely lost it, but…

Let me explain.

A little over 20 years ago when I moved into a house in the Wissahickon area that had lots of ground for plants, I planted a bunch of different bulbs in the fall that sprang to glorious life in the spring. Most of the flowers had no scent, like tulips and crocuses, but there were also some hyacinths and lilies that had did have a scent and I can remember coming home from work, walking to the mailbox, and being greeted by a wonderful fragrance from those scented flowers.

But the following year I no longer noticed the fragrance as I walked to the mailbox. Oh, I could still smell the flowers, but I had to get up close and personal to them in order to do so.

And that’s how it’s been ever since. I still have had a sense of smell, but it seems to have been greatly diminished. I can still smell coffee beans but I can’t smell coffee when it’s brewing. Only after I pour myself a cup.

But in the past few weeks that’s changed. Now once again I can wake up and smell the coffee. Well, not literally, as I don’t brew it that early, but you know what I mean. And the only thing I can attribute it to is that I’ve been ingesting more protein.

So this sort of suggests that my protein deficiency may have been going on longer than I thought, although that really doesn’t make any sense. Something else must be going on.

In the meantime, I’m just enjoying the re-found sense of smell.