A recent study by the The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry noted six scents that helps soothe away stress.
The scents include lavender, lemon, orange, grape, mango, and basil. Each of these fruits and herbs contain linalool, which is a chemical that appeared to offset the effects of stress. Linalool provides a calming effect on the limbic center of the brain, which is involved in processing emotions.
I’m surprise peppermint didn’t make it on the list. Peppermint is great at relieving headaches and also very uplifting. I always feel more relaxed and calm after being around peppermint.
The scent of any fruit makes me happy. Especially guava, but mangoes come out second. There is actually a tree that grows in my mom’s yard with leaves that smell very much like green mango. The young leaves are edible and taste just like tangy green mango! I don’t know the name of it, but will have to take a picture of it when spring arrives.
Personally I find citrus scents to always be relaxing and cheerful. That’s the main reason I like to use it in many of my soaps.
But if you don’t have the soaps handy, another great thing to do is make your own spritzer. Just mix about 15 drops of essential oils with an ounce of water in a spray bottle. Spritz on skin and relax.
9:26 pm on February 13th, 2010
I knew about lavender, and basil, but didn’t know that lemon, orange, grape, and mango are classified as scents that help soothe away stress. I do like the orange smell and always save the peels on my desk, and here I didn’t even know that it helps alleviate my stress.
9:32 pm on February 14th, 2010
And I thought I was the strange one for saving my orange peel! My favorite is tangerines and mandarins, they have the most fragrant peels.
9:52 pm on February 15th, 2010
I saw that they use the orange and lemon skin for cooking also, I need to give that a try with fish or chicken.