Sweets: a Natural Pain-Killer?
Posted By Mark Sisson On July 11, 2007 @ 12:01 pm In Health,Prevention | No Comments
Now here’s an interesting study, as reported at Science Blogs [3]:
The smell of sweet odors helped participants withstand discomfort. Apparently, smelling something sweet specifically increases pain tolerance. Scientists compared three groups, exposing each group to a different smell (sweet, pleasant but not sweet, and unpleasant – civet musk). What’s interesting is that a sweet odor did not actually reduce the pain, but merely the ability to withstand it. There’s likely nothing causal here, as the article points out. We’ve learned – or have been taught – to associate sweets with pleasure.
[4]
Orangejuicy’s Flickr Photo (CC) [4]
A marketing tidbit, apropros of sugar: bakeries and cookie shops and even some markets pump sweet scents through the air intentionally.
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URL to article: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/sweets/
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[1] free weekly newsletter: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/feeds/?utm_source=wwsgd&utm_medium=intro_note&utm_campaign=newsletter
[2] Primal Blueprint 101: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/
[3] Science Blogs: http://scienceblogs.com/mixingmemory/2007/07/do_sweet_smells_make_pain_more.php
[4] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/orangejuicy/762555070/#comment72157600762660236
[5] pain: http://technorati.com/tag/pain
[6] science: http://technorati.com/tag/science
[7] medicine : http://technorati.com/tag/medicine
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