Jul 22, 2014 12:41 AM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

Consuming large amounts of high-fat foods could cause people to lose their sense of smell, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Florida State University found that diets could impact a whole range of human functions that were not traditionally considered when examining the impact of obesity.

"This opens up a lot of possibilities for obesity research," Nicolas Thiebaud, leader of the study and post-doctoral researcher, said in a statement.

The study was conducted over a six-month period where mice were given a high-fat daily diet, while also being taught to associate between a particular odor and a reward (water).

Mice that were fed the high-fat diets were slower to learn the association than the control population. And when researchers introduced a new odor to monitor their adjustment, the mice with the high-fat diets could not rapidly adapt, demonstrating reduced smell capabilities.

It was the first time researchers had been able to demonstrate a solid link between a bad diet and a loss of smell.

"Moreover, when high-fat-reared mice were placed on a diet of control chow during which they returned to normal body weight and blood chemistry, mice still had reduced olfactory capacities," researcher Debra Ann Fadool said in a statement. "Mice exposed to high-fat diets only had 50 percent of the neurons that could operate to encode odor signals."

For Thiebaud and his colleagues, the results are opening up a whole new line of research. They will begin looking at whether exercise could slow down a high-fat diet's impact on smell and whether a high-sugar diet would also yield the same negative results on smell as a high-fat diet.

According to the National Institute of Health, more than two in three adults in the United States are considered to be overweight or obese. Additionally, about one-third of children and adolescents ages 6 to 19 are considered to be overweight or obese.

The findings were recently published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

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