We all have a unique olfactory profile, probably as unique as our fingerprints. Our body odor is influenced by a wide range of factors, from our personality to our mood and health. Many of these parameters are beyond our control, but some are more easily modifiable: this is the case of our diet, whose impact on the perfume we give off is significant.
However, our body odor affects the way we are perceived by others, and in particular our power of seduction. The BBC therefore investigated how food changes our aroma, and therefore our attractiveness. It must be said that food influences our aroma in two ways, whether through our digestive system (which is partly responsible for our breath) or our skin (and more precisely our perspiration, which is basically odorless).
Garlic, asparagus and vegetables
The British media points out that the smelliest foods almost all have one thing in common: the presence of sulfur. Should we therefore flee them? The answer is surprising: on the contrary, they tend to make us more attractive. Broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower, rich in sulfur, but also garlic and onion, would thus have the ability to make our smell gain a few points of seduction.
The example of garlic is particularly striking. If it causes bad breath in the short term, the peak being reached half an hour after ingestion, it does however make underarm sweating more attractive. This was demonstrated by a team of scientists who had a sample of women smell the sweat samples of men who had eaten varying amounts of garlic.
“We reproduced this study three times, we were so surprised”explains Jan Havlíček, the scientist behind the experiment, who studies human ethology and chemical communication at Charles University (Czech Republic). Since garlic has health-promoting antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, the researcher speculates that this is what could make these men’s scent more palatable to women.
Other plants have a very specific effect on our sense of smell, such as asparagus, which affects both the smell of our sweat and that of our urine – at least in around 90% of individuals. The BBC also cites a 2017 Australian study which reveals that higher consumption of fruits and vegetables makes body odor more pleasant, fruity, floral and sweet. The same research showed that carotenoids (molecules present in particular in carrots, pumpkins, tomatoes and papayas) had an impact on the skin of our face, thus making it more attractive.
Other work by Jan Havlíček’s team, dating back to 2006, helped show that people on a vegetarian diet had an odor that was considered more attractive, more pleasant and less outrageously strong. On the other hand, alcohol and coffee do not work miracles: they tend to accentuate bad breath. As for beer drinkers, if they are more attractive than those who drink water, it is only to… mosquitoes. What motivates you to follow “Dry January”?
