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The Power of Smell: Changing Your Mood With Scents

Your nose is much more than just a funny looking feature on your face that gets plugged during cold season and runny during allergy season. It has a direct pathway to brain, which in turn makes it able to evoke emotions, feelings and memories, simply by one inhale.

You can tap into the power of your nose by using certain scents to boost your mood, reduce stress levels or quell a craving for a bag of potato chips. Our nose contains millions of smell receptors. When these receptors detect a scent, they immediately send information to the olfactory bulb in the brain.

From there these signals get processed and sent the limbic system of our brain, which is responsible for a host of task like emotions, memory retention, appetite, sexual arousal and even aggression.

Most of our taste for food comes from our ability to smell the item, not taste it. What we perceive as flavor has much more to do with the linear connection between the nose and the brain than between our taste buds and belly.

So, the next time you are looking for a quick health fix, put down the caffeine, diet pill or Viagra and let your nose guide you to a healthier you.

Smells for Energy

When you need a boost in energy, smell known energy boosters like lemon, peppermint and orange. These scents have a quick-acting invigorating effect and without the heavy crash of a candy bar or double espresso.

Smells for Appetite Control

When a craving for something sweet, salty, chocolaty or just downright sinful hits, reach for the smell of green apple. You can eat one to crunch away the craving or simply keep a green apple scented lotion, candle or perfume nearby and take a whiff to fight off a snack attack.

Smells for Stress Relief

If a deadline or screaming toddler has the strands of your hair turning gray by the second, reach for the scent of lavender or orange. In one Austrian study, researchers found that when lavender or orange were smelled by the worried study participants, they reported feeling less anxious and calmer than those who didn’t smell anything at all. Lavender is also helpful in ensuring a good night’s rest.

Keep a small bottle of essential oil or a diffuser with in your purse, car or office drawer. Or keep a lavender sachet on your nightstand.

Smells for Pain Relief

Have a headache, toothache or heartache? Reach for peppermint. One European study found peppermint to be just as effective as acetaminophen in easing the pain of a headache. Just a quick smell of peppermint tea or peppermint oil can help dull feelings of pain.

Smells for Intimacy

When your libido could use a jumpstart, have a smell of baby powder, licorice or cucumber. Pumpkin pie and lavender have also been shown to get you in the mood. Serve pumpkin pie for dessert or towel off with a dusting of baby powder.

While most of us have experienced firsthand the powerful effects of smell on our emotions, few of us have incorporated using scents to better our health. Perhaps it’s time to experiment with this aromatic and cost-friendly way to improve our minds, moods and bodies.