Our sense of smell is going through a revolution.
When was the last time you paid any attention to your sense of smell? In a society that is obsessed with sight and sound, our sense of smell has been relegated to the bottom of the sensory pile. Our nose goes about its every day business categorizing, identifying and memorizing thousands of different smells with every breath we take.
New medical research into the power of the olfactory sense to trigger memories, enhance moods and improve sexual health is giving our sense of smell a new attitude. Recently, health-conscious baby boomers have begun to discover the power of this sense as an easy, personal way to optimize their health and well being.
Aromatherapy deemed a fringe therapy 25 years ago is booming and has hit the main stream. Scented candles have become a billion dollar business. From plug-ins, sprays and room deodorizers, we're filling our atmosphere with smells.
Over the past few years, a variety of scents have been added to most household products, including diapers, cleaning supplies, the laundry and cat litter. We want everything to smell fresh and clean rather than the way it really smells. This is particularly true on the personal side. While science keeps pointing to the obvious power of smell in sex function - it's just not for the birds and the bees - we scrub ourselves ruthlessly clean and then spray on the perfumes, creams and deodorants to make us smell 'just right'. We'll do anything to mask our true smell.
The backlash to these all these aromas indiscriminating wafting through our environment has been increasingly vocal. Most offices and schools now ban personal scent products, such as perfumes and colognes, because of negative reactions to the added chemicals dispersed into our environment.
Our sense of smell is claiming a new role in our lives which promises to be a more intelligent use of its power than sniffing artificial scent added to sell more products. Using your nose as a modern mood management tool will be a much better function of this sense.
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