![Want to Lose Weight? Eat Foods That Smell](http://wac.450f.edgecastcdn.net/80450F/tsminteractive.com/files/2012/03/garlic-300x200.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Want to Lose Weight? Eat Foods That Smell
Have you ever binged on garlic? Probably not, and experts say there’s a good reason for that: scientists have found we tend to eat less of smellier foods.
In previous work, Rene de Wijk, a sensory scientist at Food & Biobased Research in the Netherlands, learned food texture alters consumption in that thicker and more viscous foods make us take smaller bites. So he wondered if the way food smells would have the same effect. And indeed it did.
Participants in the new studies took smaller bites of foods with stronger aromas — even when the aromas were pleasant. And since smaller bites make us eat more slowly, we’re likely to feel full faster, which can lead to a lower caloric intake and an accompanying weight loss.
“It could be that people are self-regulating, and that with a more intense odor, we take instinctively smaller bites to avoid strong sensations,” says de Wijk.
So can the smell-factor of foods be amped up to make us eat less? Maybe. The researchers found that manipulating the odor of food to make it stronger may result in a five-to-10 percent decrease in how much we take in with every bite, so a combination of aroma control and portion control could mean smaller waistlines.
[Time]
More From KSEN AM 1150
![James Cameron Tweets From the Deepest Part of the Ocean](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/James-cameron-submarine.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ozzy Osbourne Schedules His Lovemaking Around ‘Letterman’](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/Ozzy-Osbourne.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![How Can You Teach Your Kids About Money? — Dollars and Sense](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/kids-money.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Old Navy Reunites ‘Blossom’ Cast for Totally Rad ’90s Flashback](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/mayim-bialik-joey-lawrence-old-navy.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Aerosmith + Cheap Trick 2012 Summer Tour Dates Announced](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/Joe-Perry-Rick-Nielson1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Angelina Jolie Responds to ‘Jolieing’ Leg Meme](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/angelina-jolie-leg-oscars.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Dee Snider, Who Hardly Parties, Parties Hard on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/Dee3.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![This Day in History for March 26 – Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty Signed and More](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/egypt-israel-peace-treaty.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Celebrity Birthdays for March 26 – Diana Ross, Steven Tyler and More](http://townsquare.media/site/126/files/2012/03/mar26.jpg?w=980&q=75)