Behavior: Nose Knows More Ways Than One

Smell spells love, hunger and higher heartbeats

Enough of Atkins, Stillman and Scarsdale. It may be that the Boring Diet works as well—or better. Scientists have long reasoned that if good taste and smell can increase appetite, terrible taste and odor, or one flavor eaten over and over, should be boring enough to decrease it. Last week, at an international conference on "The Determination of Behavior by Chemical Stimuli," a pair of biologists reported findings suggesting that any tedious diet helps weight loss. If it were possible to eat one food all the time,...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!