The vanilla aroma is the most pleasant in the world and is also calming

If you like the smell of vanilla you are not alone, because It is the most appreciated aroma in the world. This admiration for vanilla extends to the five continents and all cultures, which shows that the taste for certain aromas is beyond cultural conditions.

The aroma brings sweetness and relaxation

According to a collaborative study involving researchers from the Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and the University of Oxford (UK), we are biologically programmed to love vanilla, and this is probably related to the fact that it produces a calming effect on the nervous system, regulate blood pressure and help sleep better.

plus vanilla reinforces the sweet taste, the perceived sweetness. Studies have shown that adding it to low-sugar foods, such as yogurt or dairy desserts, can make them taste slightly sweeter. Therefore, it is a practical way to reduce the consumption of added sugar.

Delicious ways to use vanilla

Add a pinch of vanilla to your morning Sprinkle a few drops of vanilla extract into your coffee Mash a frozen banana and add a few drops of vanilla

Culture does not influence odor preferences

The researchers wanted to examine whether people around the world have the same perception of smell and like the same types of smells, or if this is something that is culturally learned. Traditionally preferences have been seen as cultural, but scientists have shown that this is not the case.

The study concludes that the smells that we like or dislike are mainly determined by the structure of the molecule particular smell. The researchers found that certain odors were liked more than others, regardless of the cultural affiliation of the participants. On the other hand, there are personal preferences.

Pleasant odors favor survival

One possible reason why people find some odors more pleasant than others, regardless of culture, is that such odors chances of survival increased during human evolution.

We now know that there is a universal perception of odor that is driven by molecular structure and that explains why we like or dislike a certain smell. The next step is to study why this is so by linking this knowledge to what happens in the brain when we smell a particular smell.

Vanilla is liked by people from very different cultures

For the study, the researchers selected nine communities that They represent different lifestyles: four groups of hunter-gatherers and five groups with different forms of agriculture and fishing. Some of these groups have very little contact with Western food or household items.

Since the groups live in such disparate odorous environments—rainforest, coast, mountain, and city—they represented many different kinds of ‘odor experiences.’

The study included a total of 235 people, who were asked to rate odors on a scale from pleasant to unpleasant. The results showed variation between individuals within each group, but an overall agreement on which odors are pleasant and which are unpleasant.

The researchers showed that the variation is largely explained by molecular structure (41 percent) and personal preference (54 percent). Personal preference may be due to learning, but it could also be the result of genetic factors.

What is the most unpleasant smell?

After vanilla, the scent that followed in preferences was the scent of peach. Instead, the most unpleasant odor for most was that of isovaleric acid, which can be found in cheese or foot sweat.

The research was made possible by an international network of experts who collaborated on a unique combination of experimental methods and field studies. The network consisted of researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, Lund University and Stockholm University (Sweden), Oxford University and University College London (UK), Arizona State University, Monell Chemical Senses Center, and the University of Pennsylvania (USA), the San Francisco de Quito University. (Ecuador), the University of Melbourne (Australia) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

The fieldwork behind the study was funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), the Swedish Research Council, and the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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