For many years it has been known that a wealth of psychological and biological information is embedded in our scent, and many studies attempt to examine how it affects the decisions we make. According to a study by psychologist and olfaction researcher Mehmet Mahmut, men are more attracted to the body odor of women in the days before ovulation, and find their scent less pleasant during menstruation. It is possible that this helped in ancient times for males to identify suitable candidates for reproduction.
In another study, he found that the scent of single men is stronger than that of married men, most likely because of testosterone levels. This makes sense since testosterone tends to decrease with age, and sometimes also following marriage and parenthood.
Although diet and lifestyle affect our body odor, a large part of what makes it unique is genetically determined. Another study in the field even proved that from among many sweat-soaked shirts, it is possible to match the shirts of identical twins by their scent. In addition, it has been proven that conclusions can be drawn about a person's personality based on their scent alone.
Further according to Mahmut’s research, body odor may reveal information about our health condition and the presence of diseases. Cholera, for example, causes a sweetish body odor, and severe diabetes, on the other hand, causes a body odor reminiscent of rotten apples. In addition, the study found that the more meat one eats, the more pleasant the body odor.
If your goal is to find a partner with good genes – It is worth paying attention to his scent
According to another study, people prefer the scent of members of the opposite sex – The more a certain gene group differs from the composition of that same group in their own body. This gene group is called HLA, human leukocyte antigens, and it is responsible for encoding proteins responsible for regulating the immune system.
From a genetic perspective, there is an advantage in having a child with a partner whose HLA system is different from yours, because if the partner has an immune profile different from yours, the children will have better resistance against disease-causing agents. The exact mechanism by which differences in HLA cause a certain body odor is unknown. However, it is hypothesized that proteins associated with this genetic group are broken down by skin bacteria and thus create a certain odor.
So in fact, women unconsciously prefer the body odor of men whose immune system is optimal for them in terms of genetic combination.
Do We Use The Genetic Information Hidden In Body Odor?
In practice, humans do not use the genetic information embedded in body odor to choose a partner. In a study that included nearly 3,700 married couples, the likelihood of partners with different genetic compositions was not higher than that of partners with similar genetic compositions. Although we have scent preferences influenced by our genetics, it seems that we do not act according to them when choosing a life partner.
The discovery of the connection between body odor and genes gave rise to a trend of "dating through sweaty shirts" and even "scent mail" services in order to locate the perfect partner. Nevertheless, it has not been proven that good romantic decisions can truly be made based on scent alone, since there are many other variables.