Smelling is the new way of dieting.

“ We may have to watch not only what we eat, but what we smell”. Dr Meng Wang from Baylor’s Huffington Center on aging says. Good news for all the food lovers out there who are trying to lose some weight.

The Baylor research team has found that certain scents might trigger changes in fat metabolism resulting in weight loss. The experiment was conducted on C. elegans worms, to trace the way olfactory nerves regulate fat metabolism mechanisms without affecting appetite. The fat content levels in the worms’ intestines were significantly different when in the presence and absence of light stimulation to activate individual smell neurons in the worms.

More research needs to be done on exactly what scents can decrease the fat content level in humans without affecting the appetite. The olfactory systems of humans are vastly more complex (10~20 million olfactory receptor neurons), resulting in a much broader palette of fair and foul scents.

In the meantime, our diet journeys will still require painful discipline on what we eat. There are studies out there that discovered different smells to curb your appetite, you can try them out before meals and see if it works for you!

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: smelling the oil in your food leads to a greater feeling of fullness.
Grapefruit: the smell interacts with your liver enzymes to decrease appetite.
Green Apples/ Bananas: smelling neutral sweet smells can curb hunger.
Fennel: the crunchy refreshing smell works as an appetite suppressant.

References
https://newatlas.com/science/fat-storage-olfactory-scents-smells/