The other day I fixed one of my favorite (and therefore fattening) pasta dishes: garlic alfredo chicken. Now, I have to admit that garlic is one flavor that I can’t exactly smell or taste, but eat anyway for its supposed health benefits (that and the rest of the family seems to enjoy a lot of garlic). As a breastfeeding and anosmic mom, I was curious what effect, if any, this would have on my breast milk.

The article “Flavors in breast milk and baby formula: How early feeding experiences shape your baby’s preferences for solid foods” posted at Parenting Science reports of a study of breastfeeding moms and garlic where “between 1.5 and 3 hours after the women had swallowed [garlic pills], the garlic odor of their breast milk reached a peak and the babies noticed. Compared with babies whose mothers took placebo pills, the “garlic babies” spent more time attached to the breast.”

My husband and I have been quite curious about whether or not AJ inherited my anosmia and/or my deficient taste buds. I can say that I didn’t notice that my son ate for any longer (or shorter) than usual, which may or may not mean anything. But my mother-in-law did say she smelled garlic when AJ burped.

I think this warrants another night of my favorite garlic alfredo chicken recipe and careful observation. You know, to make it more scientific. ;-)

So far, it’s really difficult to say whether or not AJ can or can’t smell. Sometimes when dinner is cooking we’re convinced he knows something’s up; other times…we don’t think he’s aware (but that just might be due to his age). Oh, and incidentally, my husband is color blind…so we’re equally curious about that as well. Yep, there’s something fishy in the Ackmann gene pool! At this point, we’re just waiting to see what sinks or swims.