Amy Shah, MD, author of I’m So Effing Hungry, recommends peppermint essential oil to women trying to lose weight. She was impressed by research from West Virginia and published in the journal Appetite. In the study, subjects who inhaled the fragrance of peppermint oil every 2 hours for 5 days ate 2,800 fewer calories during the week, compared to weeks without smelling the fragrance. That difference is enough to lose almost a pound every week!

Adding a few drops of peppermint oil to water can also improve your workouts to speed up weight loss. Researchers reported in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that peppermint water increased the performance of athletes, allowing them to exercise longer without feeling fatigue.