{"id":583,"date":"2025-06-26T15:37:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-26T13:37:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nutrimedia.info\/?post_type=news&p=583"},"modified":"2025-06-16T15:37:39","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T13:37:39","slug":"lodorat-a-key-player-in-the-field-of-appetite-and-metabolism","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.nutrimedia.info\/en\/news\/lodorat-un-acteur-cle-de-lappetit-et-du-metabolisme\/","title":{"rendered":"The unsuspected influence of smell on food intake"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if our sense of smell was the silent conductor of our food cravings? A recent study published in Nature Metabolism<\/em> explores how our nose directly influences our appetite, via biological mechanisms closely linked to metabolism and the nervous system. A discovery that sheds new light on the complexity of our relationship with food.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sense of smell, a key player in regulating appetite<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It has long been known that food odours can stimulate the appetite or, on the contrary, provoke disgust. But researchers did not know precisely how<\/em> the sense of smell biologically modulated food intake<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a study published in June 2025 in Nature Metabolism<\/em> by a consortium of researchers led by Dr C\u00e9line Riera<\/a> (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles), scientists have shown that olfaction does more than just evoke memories or stimulate the desire to eat: it also activates deep metabolic circuits, influencing insulin secretion, leptin sensitivity and overall energy metabolism.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the study shows that depriving mice of their ability to smell disrupts their food intake, body weight and hormonal response, even on an identical diet<\/strong>. Conversely, restoring the sense of smell reactivates certain metabolic pathways that help regulate appetite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important discovery for understanding obesity<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Which makes this study particularly innovative, the link that has been established between the sense of smell and the hypothalamus<\/strong>, the brain's control centre, which regulates appetite<\/a> and satiety. The researchers identified an olfactory-metabolic axis, involving in particular the activation of AgRP neurons<\/strong> (Agouti-related peptide), known to stimulate hunger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mice deprived of their sense of smell, these neurons remain inactive even in a state of fasting, which could explain a loss of appetite. Conversely, in mice exposed to food odours but unable to consume the food, activation of these neurons increased. In other words, smelling food without being able to access it stimulates hunger signals.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These results suggest that olfactory stimulation could have a metabolic effect independent of actual food consumption. This opens up new therapeutic perspectives in the treatment of obesity and appetite disorders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n