Sense of smell: protector and seducer
What smells good is also good
At least mostly. How the sense of smell keeps us healthy from birth.
Smelling is the immediate path to our emotions - and thus a guarantee for quick, unconscious action. Because with each of the 20,000 breaths that we draw in every day, we register in a fraction of a second a smell, for example, a dangerous such as smoke or a soothing like coffee smell, which usually arouses positive associations in us. The sense of smell can protect us even from the wrong partner - if we know how to interpret the signals correctly.
A study at the University of Bern has shown that couples who divorced have relatively similar odors. In luck the partners smell different. Similar immune systems cause similar odors - and that is rather repulsive. Women find the body fragrance of men whose genetic tissue markers are very different from their own very attractive.
They unconsciously choose the broadest possible mix of genes, which ensures healthy offspring. Speaking of good genes: About 350 genes are responsible for the smell alone, the largest gene family of humans. Even the most primitive unicellular organisms orient themselves with the help of this sense, and sperm also follow their "nose" to the egg - which is supposed to smell like lilies of the valley. As early as the 28th week of pregnancy, the fetus is so well endowed with olfactory cells and the necessary nerve tracts that it not only follows the scent of the nipples immediately after birth, but can recognize its smell after only a few days.
Even good and bad foods can already distinguish newborns: Vanilla fragrance gives her a satisfied look, lazy eggs and old fish spoil her face. Everything else, especially the evaluation of smells, is learned in childhood.
Unfortunately, we are then set too fast on a good or bad. The Norwegian scent researcher Sissel Tolaas therefore pleads for more openness: "We place odors too fast in too few categories, but why? I believe that one could also counteract odors neutrally."
The earlier an odor was made, the harder it is to "turn it off". This too is a protective function: After all, what the parents have taught you is certainly good. And we associate many beautiful memories with certain smells.
What if the sense of smell is silent?
It's hard to break, but if we do, we're missing a big piece of life.
After four to six weeks, an olfactory cell is replaced by a new cell that is made up of a neuronal stem cell. A fast repair mechanism that ensures that the important olfactory organ is always at the height. After a strong cold, the damaged sense of smell soon recovers.
It is different if the olfactory cells are permanently damaged. For example, by strong chemical stimuli: If you smoke a lot or inhale harsh chemicals over a long period of time, you can severely damage your olfactory mucosa. "Endangered are chain smokers who smoke more than 20 cigarettes a day," said the researcher Professor Riechlangt. Thomas Hummel at the University Hospital Dresden.
Also, viral infections such as herpes and influenza, some medications, allergies or injuries, for example in an accident, can permanently damage the olfactory stem cells. "Anosmie" is the name of this condition - "without smell". Sometimes it can take years for the sensation of smell to return. Sometimes the olfactory cells in the recovery phase also play crazy: they do not all regenerate at the same time, so that some fragrance molecules are not perceived, others are particularly strongly perceived. Then even pleasant things can suddenly stink.
Age is also a risk factor: at 60, only about 6 million of the original 30 million olfactory cells are present. Fortunately this is enough for everyday life, but it explains why older people often eat little - they just do not taste it anymore.
Slept well? How we can use fragrances to heal
If odors have such a strong influence on our well-being, then it is obvious that fragrances can influence health and well-being. Aromatherapy is the keyword.
Fragrance molecules enter the body in at least two ways: On the one hand, the fragrance impression is registered in the limbic system of the brain and influences feelings and well-being. On the other hand, odor molecules enter the lungs and from there into the bloodstream, so that they can act directly on the target organs.
Aromatherapy was long in the esoteric corner and was taboo for many doctors and researchers, but now fragrances are being used increasingly successfully.
- For pain: In South Korea, women who inhaled a mixture of basil, lavender, rosemary and rose three times a day for two minutes each had their subjective pain perception - measured on a pain scale - dropped by six points, in the control group only by 3.2 points ,
- For sleep disorders: Scent researcher Prof. Dr. med. Hanns Hatt from the University of Bochum was able to isolate a molecule from jasmine air that has been proven to enter the brain via the nose, where it binds to the same receptors as certain tranquillizers (benzodiazepines).
- In anxiety states: Out of 200 dental patients, those who sniffed the fragrance of orange and lavender oil in the waiting room were considerably less afraid.
- For cough: The essential oils of thyme act directly in the lungs mucus and antispasmodic.
The small workout: This keeps the sense of smell fit
Smelling can be excellently trained. Perfumers and wine tasters do daily "snooping exercises" and, if they are good, can distinguish and above all name far more than 10,000 smells. Because the most important smell training takes place basically in the language center, where the smell impression gets a name. For example: leather!
CLOSE YOUR EYES and taste it in a concentrated way. How does the potted flower, the butter, the neck of your child smell?
COLLECT RUFFS: From each walk bring odor samples - in jars or just in the head. Also suitable as samples are aromatic oils and everyday things such as coffee, thyme, cinnamon, berries or soap.
TRY TO DESCRIBE EVERY SMELL WITH AT LEAST THREE WORDS: Fresh bread can smell sour, yeast and roasted.
