London: Smelly food can keep you off unwanted pounds as stronger smells led to smaller bite sizes and less consumption, says a new study.

Smaller bite sizes are required for foods which need more chewing and also linked to a sensation of satiation sooner. They may also limit the release of flavours of unfamiliar or disliked foods.

In order to separate the effect of aroma on bite size, researchers from the Netherlands developed a system where a custard-like dessert was eaten while different scents were simultaneously presented directly to the participants nose, the journal Flavour reports.

The results showed that the stronger the smell the smaller the bite. Rene A de Wijk, who led the study, explained: "Our human test subjects were able to control how much dessert was fed to them by pushing a button," according to the Daily Mail.

"Perhaps, in keeping with the idea that smaller bites are associated with lower flavour sensations from the food and that, there is an unconscious feedback loop using bite size to regulate the amount of flavour experienced," said Wijk.

This study suggests that manipulating the odour of food could result in a five to 10 percent decrease in intake per bite. Combining aroma control with portion control could fool the body into thinking it was full with a smaller amount of food and aid weight loss.