What Good Scents Can Do for You

Scents have a way of changing our mood instantly, so it makes sense that scents can do much more than that. Studies have shown that within 4 seconds of coming in contact with a scent our brain will react, this is an almost immediate response.

We all know that our favorite scents can make us feel good, calm us, and bring up old memories. Jasmine in the air can make you think of a tropical paradise, cinnamon can remind you of your mom or grandmother baking something in the kitchen, but did you know that scents can also help you lose weight, improve your hand and eye coordination or help you play a better game of Scrabble? These things have been right under our noses all the time, we just never put them together until now.

What can certain scents do for us?

Basil can help you feel refreshed and alert. Anytime you feel a bit sluggish, go to your pantry and grab the basil.

Need a brain boost? Scents like grapefruit, coffee and peppermint can help give you a mental edge, but studies show that cinnamon is the best of all. It helps with recall, mental processing, helps give you quicker time reaction and can outperform those other "mental" scents. Cinnamon works by increasing blood flow. More blood flow gives you more energy and also brain boosting power.

Peppermint can help you lose weight. Smelling peppermint every two hours throughout the day can help you eat less, thus consuming less calories.

E.Q. Boosting scents include eucalyptus, menthol and camphor. E.Q. Is your Emotional Quotient. Smelling these scents can help you be more empathic to other people's needs or concerns.

Jasmine, that wonderful floral scent that most people love can help you improve hand and eye coordination by helping you concentrate. Games like tennis, bowling, and darts have seen improvements after being exposed to jasmine.

The scent of strawberries can help motivate you to workout. Scientists believe the fruity scent helps distract you from fatigue so you feel more motivated to workout and even work out longer. Try applying some strawberry lip gloss before your next workout and see if you get a boost. If you're male, you may want to just smell your wife or girlfriends lipgloss.

Sandalwood, such a warm inviting scent has been shown to calm you down. Who could be stressed or in a bad mood with such a lovely aroma? History tells us that the sandalwood tree was as valuable as gold in some places and wars have been fought over this remarkable scent. It seems a contradiction in terms doesn't it? Maybe after a whiff of sandalwood they all calmed down and came to a truce. Who knows, but the scent does have calming effects.

Anytime you feel stressed or need a boost of energy make sure you have these scents on hand.