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Men smell of cheese, women of onion: Study
PTI ^ | 29 Jan 2009 | PTI

Posted on 01/29/2009 6:47:57 AM PST by 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.


TOPICS: Cheese, Moose, Sister; Science
KEYWORDS: bodyodor; cheese; french; men; moose; sexdifferences; sister; sweat; women
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:^|
1 posted on 01/29/2009 6:47:58 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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


2 posted on 01/29/2009 6:48:56 AM PST by RichInOC (No! BAD Rich! (What'd I say?))
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!


3 posted on 01/29/2009 6:50:48 AM PST by Dr. Bogus Pachysandra ("Don't touch that thing! I'm a doctor, and I won't touch that thing!)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
Word on the street is that Nazi Pelosi smells of Botox, and Helen Thomas smells like a stegosaurus
4 posted on 01/29/2009 6:50:51 AM PST by exile (I will NOT submit.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

I have heard that Europeans smell.


5 posted on 01/29/2009 6:51:18 AM PST by CobraJet
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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?)


6 posted on 01/29/2009 6:52:05 AM PST by Responsibility2nd
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

It’s according to what she looks like.


7 posted on 01/29/2009 6:53:00 AM PST by devane617 (Republican's first strategy should be taking over the MSM. Without it we are doomed.)
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To: Responsibility2nd
Is there a point to this thread...

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

8 posted on 01/29/2009 6:53:15 AM PST by MyTwoCopperCoins
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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


9 posted on 01/29/2009 6:55:21 AM PST by ArrogantBustard (Western Civilization is Aborting, Buggering, and Contracepting itself out of existence.)
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To: exile
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!

10 posted on 01/29/2009 6:56:06 AM PST by aragorn (We do indeed live in interesting times.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
"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.

11 posted on 01/29/2009 6:56:30 AM PST by meandog (The two named Bush get the bird from this hand!))
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

I like onions.

12 posted on 01/29/2009 6:57:05 AM PST by andy58-in-nh (Ronald Reagan had a vision of America. Barack Obama has a vision of Barack Obama.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

I smell like a rose.


13 posted on 01/29/2009 6:57:45 AM PST by yobid (Psssst .....he's 1/2 white.....pass it on.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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.


14 posted on 01/29/2009 6:57:51 AM PST by Texan Tory
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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!


15 posted on 01/29/2009 6:59:40 AM PST by Travis T. OJustice (Change is not a destination, just as hope is not a strategy.)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

Comment removed by Poster.


16 posted on 01/29/2009 7:00:22 AM PST by rockinqsranch (Dems, Libs, Socialists, Call 'em what you will, they ALL have Fairies livin' in their Trees.)
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To: Texan Tory

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


17 posted on 01/29/2009 7:00:56 AM PST by Robe (Rome did not create a great empire by talking, they did it by killing all those who opposed them)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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


18 posted on 01/29/2009 7:00:59 AM PST by Red Badger (I was sad because I had no shoes to throw, until I met a reporter who had no feet.....)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins

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


19 posted on 01/29/2009 7:02:50 AM PST by Sig Sauer P220 (Our constitution protects aliens, drunks and U.S. Senators. ---- Will Rogers)
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To: MyTwoCopperCoins
They must have only tested French.

A good honey and alum douche works on females.

20 posted on 01/29/2009 7:03:15 AM PST by HuntsvilleTxVeteran (!yaw gnorw eht su gnikat si noitartsinimdA amabO ehT)
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