Women Prefer The Smell Of Men Who Eat Fruits And Vegetables, Study Says

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It looks like there’s another incentive to eating vegetables that has nothing to do with slimming down. A recent study on diet quality and the attractiveness of male body odor found that what you eat can affect how you smell and how attractive you are to the opposite sex.

The study explored whether fruit and vegetable intake is associated with more pleasant smelling sweat. The male participants outlined their eating patterns and they were given white t-shirts and asked to exercise. Afterward, the male participants provided sweat samples and dietary information. Female participants evaluated these samples in a couple of qualitative and psychophysical dimensions.

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The study found that men who have a diet heavy with carbs smell less appealing to women than guys with diets full of fruits, vegetables, meats, eggs and tofu.

NPR reports that “from an evolutionary perspective, scientists say our sweat can help signal our health status and could possibly play a role in helping to attract a mate.” An author of the study, Ian Stephen of Macquarie University in Australia, says, “We’ve known for a while that odor is an important component of attractiveness, especially for women.”

The men who ate more fruits and vegetables had a body odor described as “fruity” and “floral.” Women were found to generally prefer the sweat from men with these produce-heavy diets. The study was inspired by research on whether yellow and more carotenoid-rich skin tones (from red or orange pigmented foods) are found to be more attractive.

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An earlier study in 2006 that focused on the effect of meat consumption when it comes to body odor attractiveness found that the odor from men with nonmeat diets was judged as more attractive, pleasant and less intense than the odor from men with red meat-based diets.

George Preti, a professor in the dermatology department at the University of Pennsylvania, told NPR, “The sweat doesn’t come out smelly.” The culprit is actually the bacteria we already have on our skin that contributes to any bad-smelling odor. If bacteria have a moist environment, they’ll thrive, grow and produce their own smells.

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If you’re looking to minimize your chances of body odor, WebMD suggests you keep your underarms dry, wash your workout clothes often (your sweaty gym clothes can be a breeding ground for bacteria) and change your diet to avoid strong-smelling foods like garlic and onions, which can easily seep through your pores. Thanks to this new study, we know eating more produce can make body odor less of an issue. If you have any men in your life with bad luck in the romance depart, suggest they add a few more salads into their diet.