Love At First Scent? Research Shows a Woman's Sense of Smell Can Lead Her To Mr Right

Love At First Scent? Research Shows a Woman's Sense of Smell Can Lead Her To Mr Right

Wondering if he’s “the one”? Forget love at first sight and focus on love at first scent.

You know how a chance whiff of an old lover’s perfume or cologne can send you right back into the agony and the ecstasy of that relationship? Even more homey smells, like your favorite childhood meal, have the ability to seemingly transport you in time, back to being that little kid again. Smell is a powerful sense that goes directly to the core of our emotional brain and it plays a key role in attraction.

Fascinating research shows that a woman’s sense of smell can lead to her to Mr. Right, at least reproductively speaking. Research has shown that each of us will be attracted to people who possess a particular set of genes, known as the major histocompatibility complex (MHC), which play a critical role in our immune systems. Mates with dissimilar MHC genes produce healthier offspring with broad immune systems.

How do people who differ in their MHC find each other? This isn't fully understood, but we know that smell is an important cue. People appear to literally sniff out their mates. In studies, women tend to rate the scent of T-shirts worn by men with dissimilar MHCs as most attractive, whereas T-shirts worn by guys with similar MHC profiles tend to be rated as “fatherly” or “brotherly,” but not boyfriend material. This is what sexual "chemistry" is all about. We’re drawn to certain people, without quite knowing why.

In my own surveys of men and women, women rate scent much more highly than men. This makes sense evolutionarily speaking, since women carry children for nine months during pregnancy and would need to sniff out a good mate who would stick around and support them.

Many women who have satisfying sex lives claim to love the scent of their guy, while many women who have dissatisfying sex claim their guy’s scent does nothing for them, or even turns them off. When I talk to women in relationships who claim that the sexual attraction was never really there to begin with, many also say that they didn’t like, or notice, his smell.

So, ladies, ask yourself: Do you like the way he smells? Does it turn you on? Get you going?

Here are some tips to put the power of smell to work for your sex life — and maybe your future progeny. Remember, if you’re into his smell, it goes a long way toward speaking to chemistry. If you’re not, it could have a negative impact on the relationship.

• If you’re wondering if he’s the one, take a good whiff of some of his clothes — how does it make you feel? Do you think warm, fuzzy thoughts or do you think he should really do his laundry? Or, try an overnight with a favorite article of his clothing. Many women love to sleep in their husband’s shirts, wear their men’s sweatshirts and are picking up on the scent, whether it’s conscious or unconscious. Do you like to wear his stuff when he’s not around? It’s another sign along the trail to sniffing out your MHC compatibility.
  
• Take a break from the pill and use another form of birth control. Research shows that the pill may interfere with a woman’s ability to sniff out a compatible mate, since it tricks the body into thinking she’s already pregnant. Some researchers suggest that if you’re single, you should forgo the pill until you’re sure you’ve met your match. Try another form of birth control and see if some scent-awareness appears.
  
• Try some scent-sational aphrodisiacs. A study conducted by the Smell and Taste Research Foundation in Chicago uncovered some powerful smells for boosting his arousal. The scent of lavender and pumpkin pie, and donuts and black licorice, in particular, increased blood flow to the penis by nearly 40 percent! So turn up the volume on an attraction that’s already there with some strategic baking or candles on your next date night at home.
  
• Smell-train your man. Men may not have as keen a sense of smell as women, but it’s still a sense that’s often neglected. One female patient told me that she had a secret. Whenever her husband wanted to have sex, she would go freshen up and put on some perfume. He had become so used to the association of that scent and sex, that when she was in the mood, all she had to do was put some on and he wanted to have sex.
  
• Scent can help fuel the flames of desire — and cool the flames of conflict. When you’re fighting, take a break to “hug and smell” — 20-second hugs raise oxytocin levels (the feel-good chemical) and following your nose will help you put the tension behind you.

So what’s the lesson, ladies? Follow your nose, it always knows!

Ian Kerner is a sex therapist, relationship counselor and New York Times best-selling author of numerous books, including the recently published “Sex Detox: A Program to Detoxify and Rejuvenate Your Love Life.” He was born and raised in New York City, where he lives with his wife, two young sons and plump Jack Russell terrier.

ZDNet Blogger Falls for Google Gags on April Fools Day?

So re-reading and re-reading again Rogers' posts, I've realized he was cleverly playing with and playing up both April Fools pranks by Google. It is notable, of course, that Rogers does regularly blog about all things Google on a regular basis and that his posts, dated March 31 shortly before midnight, were not explicitly marked as satirical or as April Fools writeups. My apologies for not double checking.

ZDNet blogger Garrett Rogers appears to have fallen for not one but two April Fools gags by Google. Happens to the best of us, I suppose, but it's still amusing. One had to do with Google offering a broadband Internet access via the toilet, the other with Google offering to snail mail you any and all emails in your account that you want a hard copy of.

As one who briefly believed, but didn't blog about, the Google Paper gag, I'm laughing with you, Garrett.

Speaking of laughing with us, at me, check out MRC's 2007 April Fools Edition of our biweekly Notable Quotables publication.

Notable Quotes in the Liberal Media

Downside of Surge’s Success
"These first few weeks since the Iraq surge started, the number of deaths in Baghdad has plummeted by an astonishing 85 percent. But on the downside, some analysts worry this could ultimately embolden America to overstay its welcome and provoke greater bloodshed down the road." — Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan reporting from Baghdad on the April 1 CBS Evening News.	| |

Worse Than Watergate?
"I’m Katie Couric. Tonight, more trouble for the Bush White House. This part-time groundskeeper says he was fired as part of a political vendetta. We’ll have the latest....Hi, everyone. While controversy still swirls over the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys, tonight a new headache for the White House. A 20-year old man who cut the grass at many well-known D.C. landmarks says he was fired because he opposes the war in Iraq. The White House claims it doesn’t know anything about it and referred all questions to the private landscaping company that the young man worked for. But Democratic senators are crying foul tonight, demanding a full investigation. Our White House correspondent Jim Axelrod has all the late-breaking details...." — Katie Couric beginning the CBS Evening News, April 1.	| |
"The statement released by your company was extremely harsh, saying at one point, ‘James was not fired because of his political views, but was terminated because he frequently did not show up for work, and when he did show up he was often intoxicated.’ Why, why did you feel the need to smear this young man just for speaking out against a war that has cost so many young lives?" — Couric to landscaping company executive Horace Quinn later on the same show.

CNN’s Gray Eminence

Host Larry King: "So you are the D.A. in New York City?" Former Senator Fred Thompson: "Well, Larry, actually I just play the District Attorney on NBC’s Law & Order." King: "My point, what I’m trying to get at is, what’s the deal with these U.S. Attorneys firings, eight attorneys all fired at once. Just unprecedented, nothing like it has ever happened before, right?" Thompson: "Well, Larry, not really. Back in ‘93, Janet Reno fired all 93 U.S. Attorneys...." King: "Reno, huh? She’s the one that had those Dance Parties in the basement, right?" — Exchange on CNN’s Larry King Live, April 1.

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Rudy Giuliani, the Anti-Clinton?

"Character should play a great role in the 2008 campaign, and it’s not the time or place for a President like Rudy Giuliani. His multiple infidelities in office, his volcanic temper taken out in purple rages on defenseless aides, the dictatorial umbrage he took at people who dared to criticize him, the petulant and polarizing way he dealt with ethical investigations. We haven’t faced that toxic combination in our recent history, and we don’t need it now." — Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter, April 1 edition.

Admiring Al Gore’s Mighty Sword
Meredith Vieira: "Joining me now is a man who could claim many titles. He’s a movie star whose celebrity wattage is greater than Angelina Jolie at an orphanage, and Time recently called him ‘a climate warrior who uses a sword of enlightenment to bravely slash through the fog of ignorance.’ Good morning, Mr. Vice President." Ex-Vice President Al Gore: "Nice to be here, Meredith." Vieira: "Mr. Vice President, now that the scientific consensus is in, and everyone, except for a certain fringe element, believes that we are indeed in a climate crisis, should the deniers even be allowed to stand in the way of, you know, environmental progress?" Gore: "Well, of course everyone believes in free speech. But we are now in a planetary emergency, and we cannot afford the luxury of allowing the oil and coal industry to prop up their surrogates in the lying right-wing media." — Exchange on NBC’s Today, April 1.
Co-host Harry Smith: "Last week, former Vice President and Oscar winner Al Gore took Capitol Hill by storm, dazzling senators with his expertise, and today he joins us. Mr. Vice President, what do you say to those who still doubt that climate change is the Earth-destroying crisis that you and every environmentalist group says it is?" Al Gore: "Harry, if your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the crib’s on fire, you don’t speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take action."	| |
Smith, chuckling: "I know a lot of moms out there are nodding their heads. Speaking of action, any tips for viewers who want to reduce their own carbon footprint?" Gore: "Well, I try to use my personal jet only for important trips. We gas up our fleet of SUVs only after sunset, and the thermostat in my 10,000 foot mansion is set at 68 degrees when Tipper and I aren’t there." Smith: "Boy, I wish I could cut back like that." — CBS’s Early Show, April 1.

Al Gore, Incandescent Genius

"Gore is so visionary he can be cartooned as the man with the light bulb of an ingenious idea over his head — not the incandescent kind, of course, which should be banned, just as Gore says." — CNN’s Miles O’Brien on American Morning, April 1.

Dictators’ Broadcast Network
Diane Sawyer: "More on my recent trip to mysterious North Korea. We’ve all heard the Western media’s stories about President Kim Jong-Il — the political oppression, starvation, concentration camps for political prisoners. So I wanted to get to know Kim Jong-Il, the man. It turns out, he’s very much a fan of American movies. [Clip of Sawyer interviewing Kim] Is it true, you love American films? I read that you like Godzilla and the James Bond series."	| |
Kim Jong-Il, through translater: "Oh, yes. I enjoy the allegorical nature of Godzilla — America is the behemoth destroying everything in her path." Sawyer, back live: "He also told me he hopes Pierce Brosnan returns for another Bond movie. Kim Jong-Il, a passionate movie critic who is not afraid to flaunt his unconventional cinematic taste. In the next half hour, you’ll hear what he has to say about American Idol. Does he like Jordin Sparks, or teen heartthrob Sanjaya Malakar?" — ABC’s Good Morning America, April 1.
Co-anchor Martin Bashir: "How do you find him [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] as an individual, as a man?" Barbara Walters: "Well, he’s very dignified. He was warm, friendly, and huggable. You’d want to pronounce his name ‘Hug-oh,’ but it’s actually ‘Ooo-go,’ like the oohs and aahs he draws from the Venezuelan people. He was very personal and uncensored. He talked about how hard his life was, that he wished he could be in love. But you can’t love just one woman while you are heading a Latin American revolution." — ABC’s Nightline, April 1.

Jack’s On to Our Scheme

"Well, the right-wing nuts are trying to tar and feather Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama because his middle name is Hussein and he studied Islam when he was in grade school. Yes, I guess that makes him a potential terrorist and someone to tag on the Patriot Act’s computer watch list. What’s next? People with too many vowels in their name or who rented Lawrence of Arabia at their local Blockbusters?" — CNN’s Jack Cafferty, The Situation Room, April 1.

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Meredith’s Real American Idol

Meredith Vieira: "Later, we’ll talk to that little crying girl from the audience in last week’s American Idol....She cried during Sanjaya’s performance; it reminded me so much of myself when I was her age watching the Beatles." Matt Lauer: "Yeah, I’ll bet. Speaking of American idols that get the girls squealing, in our next half-hour, we’ll be talking to Senator Barack Obama." Vieira: "Oh, he’s dreamy. He can sing to me any day." Lauer: "Easy there, Meredith." — Exchange on NBC’s Today, April 1.

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Quite the Dynamic Duo

Keith Olbermann: "David, tell us about the blockbuster you’re reporting in the next issue of The Nation." The Nation’s David Corn: "Keith, multiple sources tell me that in the early summer of 2003, Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame devised a plan to capture Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri. It involved luring them to a private room at a men’s club in Peshawar with the promise of a lap dance from Plame. While she was entertaining them, Wilson would have burst into the room and subdued both terror suspects with his bare hands. Tragically, Robert Novak outed Plame before the plan could be carried out." Olbermann: "More proof the Wilsons are true patriots." — MSNBC’s Countdown, April 1.

Fear Bush, Not Bin Laden

Co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck: "How do you explain that, you know, there is video footage of planes flying into the World Trade Center and, and Osama bin Laden was caught on video boasting about these attacks-" Co-host Rosie O’Donnell: "Okay, Elisabeth, you have to stop. You have to stop. You can’t just blather on about your opinion because this is my show." Hasselbeck: "But how do you explain-" O’Donnell: "Elisabeth, you are very young and you are very wrong. Don’t fear the terrorists. George Bush is a far greater threat to our lives than Osama bin Laden, who is a devoted husband and father." — Exchange on ABC’s The View, April 1.

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World’s Greatest Pretzel (Almost)
"It was five years ago today that President Bush famously passed out from choking on a pretzel in the White House. I have to ask, given what we know now, if Bush choked himself into the arms of Jesus that night, wouldn’t that pretzel now be seen as worthy of the Nobel Peace Prize?" — Bill Maher on his HBO program Real Time, April 1.	| |