A new study by the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has found that serving garlic bread with spaghetti helps families get along better. In the experiment, those families who smelled and ate garlic bread not only cut down on the number of negative interactions between family members by nearly a quarter, but positive interactions actually increased by 7.4%. Most likely to be affected? Older males-namely, Dad-who both liked and had nostalgic feelings evoked by the aroma.

The study concluded: "Serving garlic bread at dinner enhanced the quality of family interactions. This has potential application in promoting and maintaining shared family experiences, thus stabilizing the family unit, and also may have utility as an adjunct to family therapy."