Can You Sniff Yourself Thin?

If you could really sniff your way slim, there would be an entire industry designed around aromatic products and scented solutions. Wait a minute — there already is!Several companies are claiming that scented products that come in jars, pens and crystals will lead to weight loss according to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal. Smell fishy to you? We asked Marjorie Nolan, RD, national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, for the skinny.“If anything, I see this sort of product as having a placebo effect,” Nolan says. “Users perceive that the scent will decrease appetite and then it does.”MORE FROM SELF: Yoga for Flat AbsHere’s a brief look at some of the products on the market:–SlimScents claims you can lose weight “merely by sniffing a pen,” according to the company’s website.–Happy Scent offers a “Weight Loss Kit” with three jars — peppermint, banana and green apple. Sniff a jar “5 minutes before you to eat to help you decrease your appetite,” the company’s website suggests.–SENSA crystals, which you sprinkle on your food, trigger your “I feel full” signal, the company’s website claims.Nolan thinks some of these products might fool you for a bit if you’re only kinda-sorta hungry, but if you’re truly hungry — guess what? — you need food. Bonus: How to Tell If You’re Really Hungry“If you’re slightly hungry, something very aromatic might give you the sensation of feeling more full, but if you’re really hungry, I don’t see how adding this will help. The human reaction is to eat real food,” she says.MORE FROM SELF: 20 Superfoods for Weight LossOn the contrary, smelling something tasty might make you even hungrier. “Smelling food increases the secretion of gastric digestive enzymes, which make us want to eat even more,” Nolan warns.And if you’re sniffing your food rather than eating it, you might just wind up overeating later.”If you wait longer than about four hours between meals, you’ll be so hungry that you’ll overeat,” says Nolan, who recommends eating three meals each day and 1-3 snacks. “The tricks only work for so long — you know that you’re tricking yourself.”We’ll stick to eating actual food, thank you very much!MORE SEOM SELF: No More Meal Planning! Let SELF Text Your Your Meal Ideas!For daily health tips follow SELF on Facebook and Twitter.Get SELF on your iPad!