The Blue Zones diet is awesome – except for one unfortunate flaw
Find out if a plant-based diet, daily activity, and community involvement can help you achieve a longer, healthier life
There you have it; definitive proof that coffee makes you a higher functioning human. Case officially closed. Call it a day, and head to your local caffeine dealer.
In today’s daily dose of great news, following on from the already tried and tested benefits of coffee, research out of the Stevens Institute of Technology has revealed that even just the smell of the good stuff can boost your brain’s power.
“It’s not just that the coffee-like scent helped people perform better on analytical tasks, which was already interesting,” says lead researcher and Stevens School of Business professor Adriana Madzharov. “But they also thought they would do better, and we demonstrated that this expectation was at least partly responsible for their improved performance.”
Madzharov was referring to a placebo effect experienced by 100 students preparing to take a computer adaptive test, similar to those required for entry into many business schools.
The students were divided into two groups for the study, and submitted to 10 algebra questions. The groups were then placed in 2 rooms, one with an ambient coffee-like scent, and the other without. According to the results, the test group in the Starbucks-themed space came out on top, with significantly higher test scores.
You wouldn’t be alone in thinking that the results seemed too good and convenient to be true, with Madzharov and her team also agreeing. They subsequently set out to further clarify their findings, but conducting a 200 person strong survey, asking students whether they thought the smell of coffee would stimulate them towards a higher level of cognitive performance. Based on the results of this follow up survey, the researchers noticed that the majority of the students held the belief that the smell of coffee would boost their test scores, perhaps resulting in a placebo-related increase in performance.
Related: What Your Morning Coffee Says About You
The researchers are hoping that then freshly ground findings (pun intended) can be used to boost performance in a wide range of settings, including coffee-induced productivity for businesses.
“Olfaction [the sense of smell] is one of our most powerful senses,” says Madzharov. “Employers, architects, building developers, retail space managers and others, can use subtle scents to help shape employees’ or occupants’ experience with their environment. It’s an area of great interest and potential.”
The study is another win for coffee, with another recent study published in JAMA also worthy of your attention. Researchers pulled data on half a million people, and found that drinking basically any amount of coffee was linked to a longer lifespan.
Drink up team!
More From
Find out if a plant-based diet, daily activity, and community involvement can help you achieve a longer, healthier life
Donald Trump is struggling to stay awake during his criminal trial. Here's what happens when you go cold turkey on caffeine
Can you knock out 50 push-ups? Then you might be ready to try typewriter push-ups, the toughest of all push-up variations
The Western Bulldogs superstar is working diligently on his rehab as he prepares his body for a return to the field sooner rather than later. As Smith told MH at the Australian F1 Grand Prix last weekend, being away from footy has only deepened his love of the game
How superstar Lenny Kravitz stays ripped as he approaches 60 years old. His body has to be seen to be believed
This total-body burner is a test of endurance, strength and determination. Use these tips to record a sky-high score
Eating all the fat you want sounds like a delicious way to lose the weight – but is it worth sacrificing carbs?
Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was a popular Australian Grand Prix winner on Sunday in front of a record crowd. Stewart Bell was there to witness it
After enduring a year that would have broken most people, the surprise star of the Tokyo Olympics and Ralph Lauren Fragrances campaign face is feeling relaxed, confident and determined ahead of the Paris Games. As he tells Men’s Health at this week’s Australian Grand Prix, that’s when he’s at his best