Of all the senses, smell is the most powerful. Scenting food is key to tasting different delicacies. It’s not just about the smell. Food Studies show that eating fat can make you more fat. University of California, Berkley studies have shown that the body’s ability to deal with calories can be affected by the smell of food. You may end up storing food that you can’t smell. Continue reading to learn more about the main findings of this research.
The studies reveal a crucial connection between the body’s olfactory system and the regions of the brain responsible for metabolism. However, the neural circuits remain elusive. Celine Riera, a former postdoctoral fellow at UC Berkeley, noted that “this paper is the first study that actually shows that if you manipulate olfactory signals, we can alter how the brain perceives and regulates energy balance.”
It was found that mice with a reduced sense of smell lost weight when they were obese. The results showed that the mice with a reduced sense of smell lost weight ate the same food as the mice with a normal sense of smell, and actually gained more weight. Mice with a stronger sense of smell were also more fat than mice without normal senses.
People who lose their senses of smell as a result of various factors such as age, injury, or disease often lose weight. However, it is not clear what causes this loss. Depression, which can lead to a loss of appetite, may also be caused by loss of sense of smell. A new study published in Cell Metabolism suggests that loss of smell may play a role. This could lead to possible interventions for people who have lost their sense of smell or are having difficulty losing weight.
