Could sense of smell be the culprit when it comes to obesity? The latest research has been published in the journal Chemical Senses.
While too much food and too little exercise may be largely to blame when it comes to obesity, scientists have been searching to see if there is a more underlying cause to the epidemic.
According to BBC News, experts already know that part of the brain that processes information about odor is also connected to the feeding centers of the brain.
Dr Lorenzo Stafford of the UK and his team set out to study if “a skewed sense of smell” could be partly to blame. They asked 64 volunteers to participate in an experiment which tested their smelling ability.
Just thinking about a smelling experiment may remind you of the days back in grade school where you got blindfolded and smelled and touched different things that were icky, but normal, like jello, to see if you could guess what it was and how much it creeped you out. Was this experiment similar? The BBC article didn’t go into the details of the experiment – only the results.
What they found through the experiments was that people had a better sense of smell following a meal than when they were hungry.
Dr Stafford suspects that it could be the body's way of detecting and rejecting foods no longer needed in order to maintain the right energy balance and stop a person eating too much.
His team also found that those who are overweight have a far heightened sense of smell for food compared to slim people - particularly after they have eaten a full meal.
“Dr Stafford believes this keener sense of smell might compel the individual to carry on eating, even when they are full.”
Stafford is hopeful the results of his research will have the potential to help people who struggle with their weight.
This new research is interesting and takes one beyond realizing that smell is related to hunger in the sense that good smelling food can make you want to eat and a bad smell can ruin your appetite, no matter how hungry you may be.
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