India, July 10 -- A new study published in Frontiers in Physiology found that smelling dark chocolate with a high cocoa content may help reduce hunger and make people feel fuller before exercise.
"We know olfaction is powerfully wired into the brain's appetite and emotion networks, but surprisingly, no study has systematically looked at the three-way interaction between smell, appetite and actual resistance exercise capacity," said senior author Dr. Mohamed Nashrudin bin Naharudin.
The study included 23 healthy men in their early to mid-20s who exercised regularly. They were divided into three groups and asked to smell one of three samples: melted 90% dark chocolate, melted 60% milk chocolate, or water as a control. Notably, the participa...