Obesity Can Affect Sense of Smell. Fat Cells May Change Olfaction.

We all know that obesity can cause heart disease, stroke and diabetes but research is looking into other effects of carrying excess fat in the body.  Fat cells produce substances of their own that can affect other organs and systems.

Focus is being placed on the olfactory bulb, which contains the most insulin receptors outside the pancreas.  Researchers bred mice that had a highly sensitive sense of smell.  These mice remained thin, even when fed a high fat diet.  When they removed the olfactory bulb from these mice, they were no longer resistant to obesity.

It's not determined yet how smell and obesity are connected, but theoretically it appears that fat cells may produce some kind of chemical that affects olfaction.  Or maybe it's the other way around: People with faulty senses of smell are more prone to obesity.  Future tests may focus on ways to alter or improve one's sense of smell for the purpose of weight loss.

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