PUT down the cologne – it’s the smell of garlic-infused sweat that ladies
apparently find most appealing.
This might sound like the worst dating tip ever, but experts have found that
eating garlic could actually get you the girl.
Scientists have found that the sweat of men who had eaten it smelt more
attractive to women and suggest that this is because the scent implies the
male is a healthy potential mate.
In the journal Appetite the scientists wrote: “Our results indicate that
garlic consumption may have positive effects on perceived body odour
hedonicity (pleasure), perhaps due to its health effects, for example
antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity.”
For the study, 42 men were asked to eat either raw garlic, garlic capsules, or
no garlic and then told to wear odour-absorbing pads under their armpits for
the 12 hours that followed.
82 women were then asked to sniff the scent samples and rate them on their
pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity and intensity.
The body odour was perceived to be “significantly more attractive and less
intense” when the men had eaten garlic, in either bulb or capsule form, than
when they hadn’t eaten anything containing the super food.
Of course, when it comes to eating garlic to improve your chances with the
ladies, you may want to watch your breath. While it may be attractive to
sweat garlic, garlicky breath probably won’t do you any favours when it
comes to the fairer sex.
“Certainly, breath odour plays a crucial role in most social interactions, but
human axillary (armpit) odour is also an important factor in intimate
relationships,” the journal reports.