You've gotta love oxytocin -- A.K.A. the "love drug." Whether you're falling in love with our spouse or your baby, it fills you with a wonderful sense of well being. And! We've just discovered another benefit: Apparently oxytocin can help control your appetite.
In an experiment, men given a nasal spray containing oxytocin before breakfast ate 122 fewer calories and 9 grams less fat than men given a placebo. They also used more of their body fat as fuel. Researchers aren't sure how it works, exactly. The oxytocin-enhanced men didn't report a noticeable loss of appetite.
It's food for thought, though. While pharmaceutical companies rush to get oxytocin nasal sprays on store shelves, would it be so bad if we found ways to give ourselves natural doses of the stuff? I think we could be pretty creative about it. Here's a few suggestions.
What do you like to do to give yourself an oxytocin boost?
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