Smelling Your Way to a Thinner You?

For those of us who diet regularly, we know what a delicious aroma in the air can do to our hunger and our sanity.  The smell of cookies baking in the oven, fast food smells when we’re out running errands, and the smell of a neighborhood barbecue can be the temptation that causes our willpower to crumble into pieces.  But what if I told you that enhancing your ability to smell will cause you to eat less and enjoy your food more– all while losing weight?

There is a new wave of aroma weight loss supplements that are geared towards stimulating the olfactory bulb which is the organ that is responsible for transmitting the sense of smell between the nose and the brain.  The Sensa weight loss product, created by Dr. Alan Hirsch, is a granular seasoning that when applied to food, allows you to taste,  smell and enjoy your food more.  It is believed that by increasing the sense of smell, one can achieve satiety (the feeling of fullness) faster.  The average weight loss over 6 months on the product that Dr. Hirsch created was about 30lbs and it’s these types of results that are generating buzz in the weight loss community. One of the more obvious benefits of products like Sensa is that it can make healthier food choices that many consider bland and plain much more flavorful.

According to Molecular Biologist Christopher Adams,  “Eighty percent of what you perceive as taste is actually smell”.  And while other companies are working towards blocking the sense of smell to promote weight loss, Dr. Friedman, associate director of Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, says there isn’t enough evidence to link sense of smell to weight loss.

Other products on the market include sniff pens and scented beads.  Have you tried any of the products mentioned in this post?  Let us know about your experience.

photo credit: vauvau

(source: The New York Times)

Written by Ernesto Martinez

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