The promise of delicious treats isn't the only reason cupcakes
make you happy. The vanilla you smell in baked goods can be a mood booster.
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Perfume Scents And Happy Moods
Can perfume make me
happier?
BY MARIA TRIMARCHI
Ever
notice that you feel happier when you're baking?
You
may think that's because of the promise of baked treats -- who among us doesn't
feel our mood lift when cookies are imminent? -- but the scent of vanilla may
help you relax and may contribute to your improved demeanor.
You
also might find the same mood-lifting effect when you're having your morning
grapefruit.
And
researchers at the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in
Chicago found that the scent of licorice, for example, can help make you feel
happier -- as well as more amorous [source: Johnson].
It's
not just the fragrance of food, though.
There's
a reason why we suggest people stop and smell the roses: The smell of roses is
uplifting, and when we smell them, our body has a positive physiological and
psychological response to their fragrance.
Studies
conducted at the Human Emotions Laboratory at Rutgers University found that
when we smell floral scents, such as roses or lavender, it makes us happy -- in
fact people who smelled floral scents during those studies reported three times
as many happy thoughts than before smelling flowers [source: Cantor].
And
the scent of lavender in your perfume, for example, may make you feel calmer,
because it may be stimulating the brain in a similar way to how a prescribed
sedative drug would.
Fragrance
has been used for centuries as a way to treat the body and mind, and is thought
to have a healing effect on everything from your back pain to your mood.
What's
happening behind the scenes goes something like this: When you inhale these
fragrances, whether it's your favorite perfume oil, a scented candle or even
the rose (or baked good) itself, you're triggering a chain of events in the
body that begins with the smell receptors in your nose (the body's olfactory
system).
The
chemicals in the scent (natural or synthetic, depending on what it is you're
smelling) enter your lungs and move on to your bloodstream.
The
body's limbic system, the part of the brain that manages our emotions and
memories, is stimulated, and the brain triggers a physiological response, such
as a change in serotonin or norepinephrine levels, two brain chemicals that
help, among other things, manage our moods.
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