London - Choosing between a healthy dish or a calorie-laden treat is usually a battle between willpower and temptation.
Now scientists have discovered a simple trick to make the choice much easier – sniffing some fruit.
Research suggests being exposed to fruity smells before making a food selection can make the brain more likely to take the healthy option, especially when it comes to dessert.
French psychologists at the University of Bourgogne, Dijon, say their findings highlight the extent to which smells influence our food choices.
For their research, they recruited 115 men and women aged from 18 to 50 and split them into two groups.
They told them they were taking part in a study looking at how people communicate while they eat.
Half the volunteers were told to sit in a waiting room that had been sprayed with the smell of fresh pears just minutes before. The remainder sat in a room that had not been sprayed. After 15 minutes, the volunteers were shown into another room and asked to pick three courses from a buffet-style presentation.
For each course, there was the option of a dish with fruit or vegetables and another with no fruit or vegetables. Starters was either a plate of cold meats or grated carrots, the main course choice was between between cannelloni Bolognese and salmon with green vegetable risotto, while dessert was either chocolate brownie or apple compote.
Although the pear odour had little effect on starter or main choice selections, there was a big difference when it came to desserts.
Three out of four participants who did not smell fruit beforehand plumped for the unhealthy chocolate brownie, compared with less than half the “pear group”.
Scientists say the results, published online in the journal Appetite, show how our appetites can be “primed” by stimuli that we may not consciously be aware of. - Daily Mail