Changes in food tastes and smells after surgery?

Is it common to have changes in the way food tastes and smells after weight loss surgery? A friend on my Facebook page mentioned this happened to her. And if it happens, does the taste and smell come back to like it was before surgery?

It happens to a lot of people but it's temporary. Lasted throughout the first yr for me, then everything back to normal.

Yes it's common. The first week after surgery my sense of smell made it easy to stick with liquids only. I'm still having trouble with some sweet tasting foods like strawberries, ham, certain yogurts, and sugar free mints. After the first year, your sense of taste will slowly return (I'm not a doctor, but that's what I learned through my nutritional meetings).

very common - but like another poster said, it's usually temporary.

tastes didn't change for me in that I liked some foods that I didn't before and/or vice versa - rather, tastes became more intense for me. Spicy foods tasted spicier - sweet foods tasted sweeter - to the point where I couldn't tolerate some of it. But I can now - and HAVE been able to tolerate it for a long time. Not sure if it went away or I just got used to it.

It is very common for this to happen and how long it lasts is different for each person, but it is temporary. Some people are not able to handle the taste of certain foods they loved prior to surgery and others can't handle the smell of the food. I experienced the taste change and I think it lasted about 4 months.

After my surgery, I definitely noticed changes in the way some foods tasted and found that I couldn't eat some of the very foods I used to love but this was temporary for the most part. I still have no desire for certain foods.

Thanks for all of your replies

I don't think you will ever enjoy food as much as you did presurgery. As for tastes, sugar tastes much sweeter to me now. I also crave 'some' spicy food, even though I was a MILD eater prior to surgery 4 years ago.