Aromatic treatment alleviates subjective index during exercise in weight gain prevention of Japanese women

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has dramatically increased worldwide. Obesity is a significant independent predictor of cardiovascular risk, and cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of morbidity and death. It is well known that physical exercise plays an important role in metabolism. However, few people continuously exercise because weight management is not an easy task for many people. Therefore, successful strategies for reducing obesity together with improving metabolic risk factors are of utmost importance. Ten mildly obese middle-aged women (53.6±8.0 years, BMI 24.5±3.2) participated in a randomized, crossover study (aroma and control trials). Subjects were examined on two separate occasions. Each subject participated in an aerobic exercise training program using an aero-bike for 20 min. This experiment used grapefruit oil (Citrus paradisi) aroma stimulation. In this experiment, we measured heart rate and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale as a subjective index, before and during exercise. The aroma trial resulted in a significantly decreased RPE compared with that during the control trial during exercise. The present study indicated that inhalation of grapefruit oil could contribute to the improvement of RPE, an indicator of subjective index, during exercise. This study further implies that inhalation of grapefruit oil offers an effective therapeutic strategy for preventing obesity.