Wait, no, that’s not right. People who are overweight have a better sense of smell.

In the continuing search for the real cause of obesity [insert diatribe about exercise and eating less while I sit around and mess about on the internet here], researchers at the University of Portsmouth have established a correlation between obesity and heightened sense of smell. Presumably those who can smell the bacon first get the bacon first.

Says the BBC;

Scientists do not yet know why this is, but Dr Stafford suspects that it could be the body’s way of detecting and rejecting foods no longer needed in order to maintain the right energy balance and stop a person eating too much.

His team found that people who are overweight – those with a higher body mass index or BMI – have a far heightened sense of smell for food compared to slim people, particularly after they have eaten a full meal.

Dr Stafford believes this keener sense of smell might compel the individual to carry on eating, even when they are full.

Heightened senses! Sort of like Daredevil. Which is wonderful, really; now obesity is not only excusable, but it’s actually a superpower.

In other news, pictures of noses and obesity are almost universally gross, so I went with a picture of a fat baby’s nose because that seems like the least awful medium.

[BBC]
[image source]