The smell of homemade bread doesn't just make us crave fresh-
from-the-oven carbs, it also makes us kinder to strangers — or
so a new study claims. A small team of researchers from France's
University of Southern Brittany sent four volunteers to stand
outside a clothing store. They sent another four volunteers to
stand outside a bakery. As shoppers passed by, the volunteers
"accidentally" dropped small personal items, like gloves and
handkerchiefs, the NY Daily News reports. The researchers found
that 77 per cent of the shoppers who walked by the volunteers
outside the bakery stopped to pick up the dropped items, while
only 52 per cent of shoppers stopped outside the clothing store.
The experiment was repeated 400 times, each time leading the
researchers to conclude that pleasant smells "trigger a positive
mood that leads to a greater degree of altruism, or
unconditional concern for the welfare of others," the Daily Mail
reports. Of course, if you're on a diet that's severely limiting
your carb intake, the sme