Men smell of cheese, women of onion: Study

PTI ^ | 29 Jan 2009 | PTI

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

LONDON: It is often suggested that there's natural smell in females that arouse males, but a team of testers have now found that women smell of onions while men smell of cheese.

A Swiss team of researchers, who studied the armpit sweat samples from 24 males and 25 females, found marked differences in the sweat from men and women after they had spent time in a sauna or 15 minutes on an exercise bike.

"Men smell of cheese, and women of grapefruit or onion," said Christian Starkenmann of Firmenich, a company in Geneva that researches flavours and perfumes for food and cosmetics companies.

A team of independent testers recruited by the scientists found the smell from women's armpits was more unpleasant. According to the results, which appear in Chemical Senses, women's armpit sweat contained relatively high levels of an odourless sulphur-containing compound - 5 milligrams per millilitre of sweat versus 0.5 milligrams in men, the New Scientist magazine reported today.

When the researchers mixed this compound in the lab with bacteria commonly found in the armpit, the bugs turned it into a thiol - a previously discovered odour from armpits that is akin to onion.

Men had relatively high levels of an odourless fatty acid which turned into a cheesy odour when exposed to the same types of bacteria.

The balance of oniony to cheesy precursors in women's sweat made it smell worse than men's as rated by independent smell assessors. The research could lead to a new understanding of body odour - and a new range of deodorants designed to tackle the unique smells of men and women.

Earlier, scientists in the US have suggested that women can sense if a man is attracted to her by the smell of his armpit sweat.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

:^|

[RichInOC]

“Come on, baby...make a quesadilla with me.”

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

[exile]

Word on the street is that Nazi Pelosi smells of Botox, and Helen Thomas smells like a stegosaurus

[CobraJet]

I have heard that Europeans smell.

[Responsibility2nd]

Let me be the first to say it. I like cheese.

But... I don’t smell like it.

(Is there a point to this thread - just asking?)

[devane617]

It’s according to what she looks like.

[MyTwoCopperCoins]

Is there a point to this thread...

Yes, one needs to keep up-to-date with today's research.

[ArrogantBustard]

“Your mother is an hamster and your father smells of elderberries!”

[aragorn]

Word on the street is that Nazi Pelosi smells of Botox, and Helen Thomas smells like a stegosaurus

But... The last stegosaurus has been dead and rotting for, well, a long time...

Oh wait, I get it!

[meandog]

"Men smell of cheese, and women of grapefruit or onion," said Christian Starkenmann of Firmenich, a company in Geneva that researches flavours and perfumes for food and cosmetics companies.

I condend they'd make more money if they tailor the scents to mirror the after effects of beans and, er, ... sardines.

[andy58-in-nh]

I like onions.

[yobid]

I smell like a rose.

[Texan Tory]

I am very troubled by this study. I don’t like onions at all, and yet I’m a heterosexual male...or am I? I guess I’ll need to await further studies to make a final determination on this.

[Travis T. OJustice]

I like when my GF smells like onions, peppers, garlic, mushrooms, tomatoes and all the other stuff that goes into the Chicken Parmesan she makes sooooooooooo well! OH YEAH, BABY!

[rockinqsranch]

Comment removed by Poster.

[Robe]

As the blind man said as he walked by the Fish Market...
“Good Morning Ladies”

[Red Badger]

Cheese?..................

[Sig Sauer P220]

I don’t know if I smell like cheese, but I tend to CUT the cheese a lot.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

They must have only tested French.

A good honey and alum douche works on females.

[Rebelbase]

I like my onions raw.

[Rebelbase]

And hot and steamy~!

[toomuchcoffee]

“Good Morning Ladies”

That’s european women. American women bathe.

[ponygirl]

Who smells like nachos?

[toomuchcoffee]

A good honey and alum douche works on females

WTF?!

[NonValueAdded]

Is that with or without the use of antiperspirant / deodorants? If without, this test is pretty useless unless it is aimed at calculating the pickup factor in a gym       or Europe.

[ConservativeStatement]

The age-old quote from Hamlet "Something is rotten in the state of Denmark..." has now been answered. It was Claudius.

[NonValueAdded]

pucker up sweetie?

[steve8714]

In other news, astronomers working with a measly $20 million dollar NSF grant have discovered a gaseous discharge from, as one researcher told the other, “the soft core of Uranus”.

[SampleMan]

A natural smell that arouses men? Yes, but it doesn’t smell like onions, it smells like women.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Two all beef patties special sauce lettuce cheese pickles onions on a sesame seed bun, to be inclusive.

[Just another Joe]

I don't know, but I've heard that alum makes things tight and that honey makes things sweet.

Just sayin'.

[grjr21]

precursors in women's sweat made it smell worse than men's

 

Bull

[Outlaw Woman]

A team of independent testers recruited by the scientists found the smell from women’s armpits was more unpleasant.

What a great addition to a resume’: Employment...Title: Armpit sweat sniffer

[ladyvet]

[b4its2late]

Where’s the moose that bit my sister?

[randomwalk]

I hear the White House smells like sulfur these days...

[eCSMaster]

My dog has no nose.

[Chances Are]

In younger days, one of my favorite dates was a chick who really put out, then at midnight turned into a six pack and a roast beef sandwich!

CA....

[toomuchcoffee]

Mmmm... This morning I smell of cinnamon, having made fresh, homemade from yeasty scratch, cinnamon rolls. Tonight I will smell of meatloaf and garlicky noodles. The french smell of cheese and the english of onions. Americans smell of whatever they want to.

[pappyone]

Actually the girls at the Dragon bar in Dongduchoen smell like kimchee. And yes, that is a good thing.

[socal_parrot]

I smell like cheese? Is that Gouda?

[wxgesr]

I used to think they all smelled like beer and cigarettes.

[LostInBayport]

Word on the street is that Nazi Pelosi smells of Botox, and Helen Thomas smells like a stegosaurus

With the exception of Elizabeth Hasselbeck, word is that the...persons...on The View smell of an odd mixture of mothballs, desperation, your weird aunt's perfume and Krispy Kremes.

[AmericanMade1776]

Sighs... another scientific study in uselessness. Where do they find these scientist, who sit in saunas smelling armpits?

[bikerman]

Limburger????

[AmericanMade1776]

It kind of reminds me of the Scientific study of how Rat’s blood pressure rises when they fart.

[Doc Savage]

Very little can compare to a Swiss Air connection flight I took into Lausanne with four orthodox jewish passengers in full black coats. It was hot on the runway in the small plane and I thought the flight attendant was going to faint from the smell. I mean it’s not like they couldn’t have bathed or tried an antiperspirant. Wowie, that was some flight!

[SeaHawkFan]

women smell of onions

I always thought is was salmom.

[Charles Martel]

Limburger????

"Moe, Larry... the cheese!!"