Although it may sound completely counterintuitive, results of a 2015 study by University of Stirling and Prague’s Charles University revealed that women who sniffed the heady scent of male body odour perceived it to be ‘significantly more attractive and less intense,’ when the men had eaten garlic.
82 women were asked to smell odour samples from 42 men, collected on pads worn in their armpits, and judge them for ‘pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity and intensity.’
[Permit us to wonder, with eyebrows firmly raised, if the same study has been repeated with the gals eating garlic.]
Researchers concluded the results possibly showed that as ‘…the health benefits of garlic consumption include antioxidant, immunostimulant, cardiovascular, bactericidal and anti-cancer effects, it is plausible that human odour preferences have been shaped by sexual selection.’
So that’s vampires bang out of luck, then.
Previous research has shown that many animals’ noses are honed to select mates in the best physical condition, and therefore human noses might well be similarly evolutionary primed to seek out partners with the most promising whiffs. Something to think about the next time your special someone reaches for that extra slice of garlic bread.
Those of you wishing to learn more about the fascinating science of taste and smell can get the juices flowing by reading our latest issue of The Scented Letter Magazine. Full to bursting with the latest news, exclusive interviews and award-winning fragrance journalism – we think you’ll find this is our most delicious issue yet…
Written by Suzy Nightingale
