Here’s a pleasant way to de-stress as well as stablise your immune system – inhale fragrances like lavender and lemon. Scientists in Japan have discovered that certain scents can alter gene activity and blood chemistry to the extent that stress levels are reduced.

In a study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Dr Akio Nakamura and his colleagues reported that stressed-out lab rats showed reduced stress levels when they were exposed to linalool, a chemical found in citrus fruits and flowers like lemon and lavender. Over 100 genes are active in stressful situations, and inhaling linalool reduces their activity. Breathing in linalool helped the lab rats’ levels of neutrophils as well as lymphocytes – key components of the immune system – return to near-normal levels.

Neutrophils are the most abundant white blood cells in mammals. Their job is to squeeze through the capillary walls and into infected tissue to kill invaders like bacteria, and then engulf the remnants by surrounding the bacteria cell and absorbing it. Stress factors, like heavy doses of radiation and chemotherapy used in cancer treatment, can reduce the numbers of neutrophils so that formerly harmless bacteria begin to proliferate. Life-threatening infections may then result.

Lymphocytes are white blood cells which help to protect the body against disease and abnormalities like tumors.

For centuries, people have been known to inhale the scent of certain plants to help reduce stress, banish depression, treat inflammation and induce sleep. Even today, people relax with the help of essential oils or pillows stuffed with flowers like lavender. The next time you bring some lemons home, why not put them out in a basket or bowl to scent the air with their fragrance?