Certain aromas can help shed pounds.

• Position: Research on use of scents to aid weight loss - Special Newsletter Edition: Your Health

A study conducted by Chicago's Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation indicates that inhaling certain aromas results in significant weight loss. In the past, the foundation has found that patients who experience a loss in their ability to smell frequently will see a weight gain. This study was designed to determine whether the opposite is true--that an increase in the intake of scents can result in weight loss.

"We have discovered that one can fool the brain into thinking you are full by inhaling various food scents when hungry," explains Alan R. Hirsch, Neurological Director of the foundation. "The odors act on the satiety center in the hypothalamus, or the area of the brain that makes you feel full."

Over a period of six months, 3,193 subjects underwent treatment by inhaling a variety of scents three times in each nostril whenever hungry. The average age of participants was 42, with an average weight of 216.9 pounds. Those who inhaled certain sweet smells and who typically had a good ability to smell, ate an average of two to four meals per day, and felt bad about overeating experienced an average weight loss of nearly five pounds or 2.1% of body weight per month. Individual weights lost varied by up to 17 pounds per month. Patients who, among other things, had a poor ability to smell, tended to snack more than five times per day, and disliked chocolate usually did not lose weight. "It's not purely a...