Enjoy sniffing other people’s body odour? You may have an unusually high SEX DRIVE, study finds

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Enjoy sniffing other people’s body odour? You may have an unusually high SEX DRIVE, study finds

  • Scientists surveyed people in US, China and India on their sexual preferences 
  • Across all three cultures, high frequency sniffing of BO was linked to sex drive 
  • Body odours have been shown to communicate the attractiveness of a partner

By Shivali Best For Mailonline

Published: 11:03 BST, 26 August 2022 | Updated: 11:11 BST, 26 August 2022

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While the idea of getting a sweaty armpit to the face might fill most people with dread, others enjoy having a whiff of body odour.

Now, a study has revealed that these people may also have an unusually high sex drive.

Researchers from the Southern Medical University in Guangzhou surveyed people in the US, China, and India about the frequency of sniffing themselves or others, and their sexual desire.

The results revealed that across all three cultures, people who engage in more body odour sniffing show stronger sexual desire.

While the idea of getting a sweaty armpit to the face might fill most people with dread, others enjoy having a whiff of body odour. Now, a study has revealed that these people may also have an unusually high sex drive (stock image)

While the idea of getting a sweaty armpit to the face might fill most people with dread, others enjoy having a whiff of body odour. Now, a study has revealed that these people may also have an unusually high sex drive (stock image)

Why does BO boost sex drive? 

While the reason for the findings remains unclear, the researchers suggest that body odours may provide key clues about a partner.

‘Body odours transport chemical signals that facilitate detection of immunological matches, genetics and family relatedness, thus promoting sexual mate selection,’ the team wrote.

‘Additionally, body odour communicates the attractiveness of a potential partner.’

Previous studies have shown a link between smell (olfaction), sexual desire and sexual behaviour.

‘In addition to its functional roles in ingestive behaviour, social communication and danger detection, olfaction is important for mammalian sexual behaviour,’ the researchers wrote in their study, published in Archives of Sexual Behaviour. 

‘A higher olfactory sensitivity has been correlated with more pleasant sexual experiences and more frequent orgasms.’

However, until now, the degree to which body odours relate to sexual desire has not been explored.

To assess this, the researchers carried out two studies.

In the first study, 1,903 Chinese students were surveyed about the importance they place on smell, how often they sniff themselves or others, and their sexual desire.

The results revealed that participants who said they sniffed themselves and others more often had a higher sexual desire.

This effect was particularly strong in women.

The results revealed that participants who said they sniffed themselves and others more often had a higher sexual desire (stock image)

The results revealed that participants who said they sniffed themselves and others more often had a higher sexual desire (stock image)

The results revealed that participants who said they sniffed themselves and others more often had a higher sexual desire (stock image)

‘Data collected from Chinese college students showed that women placed higher value on olfaction, had higher prevalence of body odour sniffing and had lower levels of sexual motivation than did men,’ the researchers wrote.

In the second study, the researchers set out to determine whether this effect was consistent across cultures, by surveying people in the US and India.

A total of 313 Indian residents and 249 US residents were surveyed with the same questions as in study one.

The results corroborated the findings of the first study, by indicating that women put more emphasis on the sense of smell, reported higher prevalence of body odour sniffing and had lower levels of sexual desire.

‘For cultural variability, the subjective importance of olfaction and sexual desire among the Indian participants was all significantly higher than those of the US participants,’ the team wrote.

While the reason for the findings remains unclear, the researchers suggest that body odours may provide key clues about a partner.

‘Body odours transport chemical signals that facilitate detection of immunological matches, genetics and family relatedness, thus promoting sexual mate selection,’ the team wrote.

‘Additionally, body odour communicates the attractiveness of a potential partner.’

SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY THE KEY ENZYME BEHIND THE PUNGENT SMELL OF BODY ODOUR – AND IT COULD LEAD TO A NEW GENERATION OF DEODORANTS 

The chemical culprit behind body odour has been identified, scientists reported in 2020. 

An enzyme made by bacteria which reside in human armpits has been found to produce the pungent scent we know as BO. 

Dubbed the ‘BO enzyme’, it is made by bacteria called Staphylococcus hominis which humans inherited from our now-extinct ancient ancestors. 

Researchers from the University of York worked with Unilever and discovered body odour has likely plagued Homo sapiens since we first evolved. 

We inherited it from our more primitive predecessors and now the smelly bacteria call our armpits home.   

Dr Gordon James, of Unilever, says: ‘This research was a real eye-opener.

‘It was fascinating to discover that a key odour-forming enzyme exists in only a select few armpit bacteria – and evolved there tens of millions of years ago.’

By identifying the specific odorous compound, academics believe they can create deodorants that neutralise the enzyme, eradicating BO. 

Dr Michelle Rudden, from the University of York’s Department of Biology, said: ‘Solving the structure of this “BO enzyme” has allowed us to pinpoint the molecular step inside certain bacteria that makes the odour molecules.

‘This is a key advancement in understanding how body odour works, and will enable the development of targeted inhibitors that stop BO production at source without disrupting the armpit microbiome.’ 

The enzymes produced by the bacteria latch onto odourless compounds made by the body’s apocrine glands. 

These are in the skin and produce sweat and open into hair follicles. They are only found under the arm, around the nipple and external genitalia. 

Human’s also have eccrine glands which are all over the body and do not open into hair follicles. 

While eccrine glands are known to be useful in thermoregulation, little is known about the hairy apocrine glands except that they are smelly and hairy. 

Scientists know bacteria live there and this microbiota is essential to their functionality. 

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found odourless precursor chemicals secreted from the glands are sliced up by the enzyme.

This transforms the harmless, odour-free chemicals into a thioalcohols, which the researchers describe as ‘most pungent volatiles’ in sweat despite being found only in trace levels.    

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