Research reveals you can actually put on weight by smelling it

Could smelling food be linked to weight gain? Photo / Getty

As if it wasn't already hard enough to keep extra weight off over winter, new research has revealed that simply smelling food can cause us to pile on the pounds.

A study conducted on mice by a research group at the University of California looked at how cutting off the mices' sense of smell affected their desire for food.

The results revealed that the mice who lost their sense of smell shed more weight when on the same diet as those who could smell normally.

The mice who could smell normally ended up doubling in weight, and mice who had their sense of smell boosted even further put on even more pounds.

The researchers believe that smelling food before consuming it impacts how the body processes calories - and sniffing your food could signal to your body that it should store the food as fat instead of burning it off.

This is bad news for those of us who love coming home to warm winter aromas coming from the crock pot, or the smelling of bacon sizzling in the pan.

Andrew Dillia, a senior author of the study, explained that sensory systems play a role in the metabolism: "Weight gain isn't purely a measure of the calories taken in; it's also related to how those calories are perceived."

Scientists are now looking at how they can use this new understanding to help humans adapt their metabolisms.

"If we can validate this in humans, perhaps we can actually make a drug that doesn't interfere with smell but still blocks that metabolic circuitry. That would be amazing," said Dillia.

The researcher's believe it could help assist those with eating disorders, people who are overweight and even people with Parkinson's disease.

So maybe try holding your nose the next time you have a fresh batch of cookies in the oven.