I was amazed to read about a new weight loss perfume. Apparently for about $50 you can get slim – just by wearing perfume.
The ingredients include caffeine, carnitine & spirulina which they claim active enzymes that are involved in lipolysis (to break down your fat cells, I assume). Other ingredients apparently release B-endorphines and reduce the need and desire to overeat in the wearer. Three quarters of testers reported that they didn’t snack as much whilst wearing the perfume. So it must be true then…
I know that taste can have a biological reaction. For example, if you drink a diet soda, the sweet taste may prepare your body to receive sugar; even if that sugar doesn’t materialise. However, I’ve never heard of the same effect based on smell alone. Though perhaps if the perfume smelt particularly revolting, eating would be the last thing you’d want to do!
Products like this sum up exactly what people want – an easy, no effort approach to weight loss. The ability to continue to give no regard to the food they put in their mouths. Sadly health rarely seems to be a driver for people to lose weight. People seem very reluctant to give up their SAD diet; never mind get off the sofa.
Do you think there could be any scientific basis to the perfume makers claims? Of the overweight people that you know, how many would opt for a perfume, rather than a healthy (Paleo!) diet and lifestyle?
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Ever stood next to the BBQ while your steak was cooking? Mouth watering isn’t it!
Of course a healthy lifestyle and diet are far superior to taking anything (a pill or perfume) to loose weight. But, I know that you certainly do taste with your olfactory nerve (as well as smell obviously) as well as the nerves for the taste buds in your tongue.
Good point Sonia
Madness… I sniff some cocomut milk this morning and put on 10kg.
Off to sniff the low fat yoghurt at the supermarket to rectify the situation!
Haha Eliot…….love your humour!
Are these people SERIOUS!!!?
That’s about as ridiculous as reading a few days ago that the answer to heart disease is to reduce people’s salt intake and make pharmaceutical drugs cheaper! What the……….???
I hadn’t heard that Lois – crazy!
Smells like a placebo effect to me (pun intended
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Would be great if it worked.
Seems you can sell any old thing, I think if it sounds to good to be true it probably is.
Yeah, I think anything to do with Weight Loss will sell, no matter how far fetched it is!
This reminds me of a body cream that was said to slim away fat. A magazine did a test for a month, you know the type, one leg got the cream. They say they measured each leg before and after and guess what, the one that got the cream measured a bit less. I thought this was probably because of the massage!
The massage probably would help Sam
I think Sonia has a point & smells do have some power & can have really good/bad affect. Smelling something can remind you & get you to relive a situation.
Though that’s all a bit remote from smelling your way to weight loss.
It would be interesting to read more research into it Cathie
I’d rather smell a good paleo meal!
Me too Barbara!