Here’s How Your Favourite Scents Can Affect Your Moods
Aromatherapy can greatly help you to reduce stress, increase attention, and calm you down. Before you buy your next bottle of essential oil, here’s what you need to know
We all love ourselves a little aromatherapy and essential oils. Whether you prefer to diffuse it with a humidifier, reed diffusers, or even a portable Muji diffuser. With that in mind, here are 7 common essential oil ingredients and what they do for your mind and well-being:
UK researchers measured the effects of people exposed to synthetic food smells including onion, garlic, chocolate, almonds, and strawberry. The only scent to have a significant impact on brainwaves was chocolate, which lessened theta activity, indicating a reduced level of attention.
A Seattle study measuring the brain’s response to lavender found “mental states become more stable and relaxed after aroma inhalation.” Another study found that people who had five minutes of lavender aromatherapy had lower stress levels before an injection and reduced pain intensity.
In 2008, 140 volunteers underwent a range of standardised tests to measure if and how aroma influenced cognition. Researchers found the aroma of ylang-ylang impaired participants’ memory, lengthened their processing speed, and decreased alertness, yet made them more calm.
In a 2016 study that used EEG to measure brainwaves, bergamot was shown to increase relaxation. And when a bergamot essential oil was added to lavender, “mental states became more table, comfortable, and relaxed” than lavender alone, the University of Washington report observed.
Researches in Korea found that the slightly herbaceous scent of magnolia “awakened and increased the concentration states of the brain” and “clearly suggested the fragrance of [magnolia] flower buds could be attributed to the enhancement of psycho-physiological activities.”
Forty adults were given some simple maths tasks to complete, then they were given three minutes of aromatherapy, followed by more simple maths tasks. The group that received rosemary aromatherapy had decreased frontal alpha and beta power “suggesting increased alertness”.
A 2007 study in Vienna discovered that the ambient smell of orange was found to relax patients in a dentist’s waiting room. The study reported that women in particular experienced “a lower level of anxiety, more positive mood, and a higher level of calmness”.
Text: Bauer Syndication