Foods That Naturally Boost Your Scent And Make You Smell Attractive
What we eat can change how we smell—and even how attractive we seem to others. Foods like garlic, onions, alcohol, meat, and even skipping meals can all influence body odor.
Everyone has a unique scent, almost like a fingerprint. Things like personality, mood, health, and even hormones affect the way we smell. Craig Roberts, a social psychology professor at the University of Stirling in Scotland, explains that factors like age, sex, sexual orientation, health, and emotional state all play a role.
While many of these factors are beyond our control, food is one that we can influence. Research suggests that what we eat not only changes our body odor but can also impact how others perceive our attractiveness.
How Food Affects Breath and Sweat
Food influences body odor in two main ways: through the gut and the skin.
The gut: When we digest food, bacteria in the gut break it down. Some reactions release gases, which can escape the body as breath or sweat. This is why certain foods can cause bad breath, a problem affecting roughly a third of adults worldwide.
The skin: Metabolized food compounds travel through the bloodstream to tissues, eventually being excreted through sweat. Sweat itself doesn’t smell, but when it interacts with bacteria on the skin, odor forms. Foods high in sulfur are often the biggest contributors to strong smells, though some of these odors can surprisingly be attractive.
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Vegetables and Fruits
Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts are full of sulfur compounds, which can make sweat smell like rotten eggs. Similarly, garlic and onions produce sulfur-based compounds that affect both breath and sweat. Garlic, for instance, can make armpit sweat surprisingly appealing. One study had men eat varying amounts of garlic, then collected their sweat. Women rated the sweat from men who ate more garlic as more attractive. Scientists suggest garlic’s health benefits, like antioxidants and antimicrobial effects, may make people smell more appealing.
Asparagus is another interesting case. It contains asparagusic acid, which releases sulfur compounds in sweat and urine, creating a distinctive odor. Not everyone produces or can detect this smell—it depends on genetics.
Overall, diets rich in fruits and vegetables tend to produce a more pleasant, fruity, or floral body odor. Carotenoid-rich foods, like carrots and tomatoes, can even slightly change skin tone, which people find more attractive. Moderate intake of meat, eggs, and tofu also seems to improve smell, while carb-heavy diets are linked to less appealing body odor.
Meat and Fish
Meat and fish break down into amino acids and fats, which are excreted through sweat and interact with skin bacteria. Fish, in particular, contains trimethylamine, which can create a strong odor. Rarely, some people have a condition called trimethylaminuria, where the body can’t process this compound, causing a noticeable fishy smell.
Interestingly, one study found men on meat-free diets were rated as having more attractive body odor than those eating meat, suggesting that high meat consumption may not always enhance scent.
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Alcohol and Coffee
Alcohol can make breath and sweat smell bad. The liver produces acetaldehyde when breaking down alcohol, a compound with a strong, recognizable odor. Alcohol also dries the mouth, allowing bacteria to thrive, worsening breath.
Coffee and tea contain caffeine, which stimulates sweat glands. More sweat can mean stronger odor if bacteria grow more easily in those areas. Some caffeine compounds can even be detected in sweat, though their effect on odor isn’t fully understood.
Fasting and Other Factors
Fasting can also influence scent. In one study, women who fasted for 48 hours had sweat that was rated as slightly more attractive than women who ate normally, though fasting worsened breath odor.
The Big Picture
Body odor is just one factor in attractiveness, alongside appearance, behavior, and personality. Researchers emphasize that there’s no clear formula for how food affects scent. Every person is different, and many compounds in food may influence odor in ways we don’t fully understand yet.
Roberts and other scientists conclude that while food does play a role, the effects are subtle and vary widely from person to person.
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