Smells May Prevent Overeating

How many times have you fallen off the diet wagon because you smelled something so delicious you just had to have it? Probably too many times to count. Well, thanks to research published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Science, manipulating food aromas may soon be able to curb overeating by increasing feelings of fullness instead of launching you into an eating frenzy.

Dutch scientists have discovered that, when chewed, foods release aromas that make you feel full. These aromas contain molecules that activate areas of the brain that signal fullness. As you eat, food scents are carried to the back of the nose from inside the mouth, which helps to satiate hunger, reports LiveScience.

Researchers found that solid foods release more satiating aromas than liquid foods because they require chewing and swallowing. In addition, odors associated with carbohydrates or protein significantly increased the feeling of fullness, which may be because those foods are high in energy.So what does this mean for you? Scientists believe that by manipulating the aromas of certain foods, they can significantly increase feelings of fullness. For example, that diet shake that leaves you feeling unsatisfied and near-starvation within an hour of drinking it could be engineered to release aromas similar to solid food, which could trick the brain into thinking it's full. In fact, controlling a food's aroma may be able to decrease how much people eat by approximately 10 percent, according to food technologist and study author Rianne Ruijschop of NIZO Food Research in Ede, The Netherlands.

Are you concerned about overeating? Read about natural ways to curb hunger.