PITTSBURGH — More than 46 million Americans still smoke cigarettes. Most of them said they’d love to quit but that’s certainly no easy task.
Channel 11 sat down with a University of Pittsburgh researcher who found that the key to quitting might have something to do with your favorite smell.
Here’s what the study entailed:
- More than 200 smokers were asked to smell several odors and then rank them as pleasant, tobacco or neutral.
- Next, would light a cigarette without smoking it.
- After waiting 10 seconds, the participants were asked to rate their urge to smoke on a scale of one to 100.
- Then, they would smell one of those odors again for several minutes.
The researchers found that the urge to smoke dropped when participants were given one of the pleasant smells, especially if those smells were linked to happy memories.
Researcher Michael Sayette said those memories may help distract people from the urge to smoke long enough to get over it.
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“I think people do drop their cravings naturally, but the key is to get them through that moment where it seems you’ll burst into flames if they don’t have the cigarette,” Sayette said.
He doesn’t see this as the only tool to stop smoking, but he does believe a necklace or token with those pleasant smells on hand may help people control the urge to smoke.
To read more about the study and the researchers CLICK HERE.