Aromatherapy is not just New Age nonsense, say Japanese researchers. Scientists report  inhaling fragrant scents such as lemon, mango, and lavender can alter gene activity and blood chemistry, helping to reduce stress, fight inflammation and depression, and induce sleep. A lemon scent, for example, has an antidepressant effect on rats—the subject of their research.

 

The effects are real, the scientists say. Inhaling linalool, a compound odor found in foods and flowers like tea, oranges, grapes, tomatoes, and basil, has been found to decrease the heart rate under stressful conditions. The reason? The compound odor has a sedative effect, according to the study, which appears in the American Chemical Society’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.  

 

The scientists divided 12 rats into three groups equally. Group A was exposed to neither stress nor odor as a control. Group B was exposed to stress only. And group C was exposed to both stress and odor. The researchers then looked at the stress hormone levels, blood cell counts, and gene expression in the rats that smelled the odor.

 

Linalool returned stress-elevated levels of neutrophils and lymphocytes—key parts of the immune system—to near-normal levels. Inhaling linalool also reduced the activity of more than 100 genes that go into overdrive in stressful situations, the researchers say. They note that using aromatherapy plant oils to improve mood and health has become a popular form of alternative medicine today.