Could our sense of smell be an important factor behind the fact that so many of us are overweight?
A recent study using mice has found those that had their sense of smell neutralized would lose weight, even though they were eating exactly the same number of calories and doing the same amount of exercise as mice with their sense of smell intact.
You can listen to the researchers explain their amazing findings here:
The scientists believe smell may be linked to the mice’s metabolism: take their sense of smell away, and the mice will burn more calories. On the other hand, they found that “super smellers” – animals genetically engineered to be extra-sensitive to odors – burnt fewer calories, stored them as fat, and became obese.
Although in its early stage, and still only based on results from mice, the study raises the intriguing prospect of manipulating our sense of smell to control how much energy we use. For example a spray used to knock out our sense of smell for a few hours could prompt our bodies to burn more calories and lose weight.
Now that would put a new spin on dieting.
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