When it Smells Like Team Spirit

Why do we connect and collaborate, deciding to "walk in the light of creative altruism" instead of the "darkness of destructive selfishness"?

Is it because of subtle behavioral clues that make us "click" and consider the other person a part of the group? Or is it because it smells like team spirit?

It very well might be. We (literally) smell love, victory, fear, along with chemicals that motivate us to cooperate. As was recently shown in double-blind placebo-controlled studies that quantitatively measured generosity and cooperation. Androstadienone, a rather unpleasant smelling molecule abundant in male sweat could make us more cooperative and more likely to think of the other person as "one of us". This molecule, created from male sex hormone testosterone possibly with the help of coryneform bacteria living under arms, was previously shown to have an effect on women - depending on social context and the time in their menstrual cycle. Even though androstadienone does not smell particularly plaasant - rather musky, with subtle urine-like and alcohol notes - merely smelling it is sufficient to maintain high levels of energy-boosting hormone cortisol  - possibly by inhibiting an enzyme (the 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 aka 11β-HSD1) responsible for its reactivation from cortisone.

Androstadienone

Androstadienone is related to another steroid estratetraenol found in the urine of pregnant women. Both molecules in large concentrations can affect mood -  improving it in females (also increasing their feeling of being focused and sensitivity to pain) while suppressing males. High testosterone males might even get depressed. So it might not be a good idea to sweat too much, but the right amount of sweating is actually helpful. If you are a male. When it comes to men deciding to cooperate with women, chemistry alone is less helpful. As in the old monkey experiment (Michael and Zumpe, 1982) where the best female strategy was to block male's access to other female monkeys. So, don't sweat it ladies. Just be dominant.

REFERENCES

Huoviala P, & Rantala MJ (2013). A Putative Human Pheromone, Androstadienone, Increases Cooperation between Men. PloS one, 8 (5) PMID: 23717389

Lundström JN, Hummel T, & Olsson MJ (2003). Individual differences in sensitivity to the odor of 4,16-androstadien-3-one. Chemical senses, 28 (7), 643-50 PMID: 14578126

 Michael RP, Zumpe D.  (1982) Influence of olfactory signals on the reproductive behaviour of social groups of rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). J Endocrinol. 95(2):189-205. PMID: 7175415

Inhale and feel it with your heart

All you need is love. Or failing that chocolate.
And not only because dark chocolate could lower the risk of heart disease, blood pressure and sugar levels. As Dr. Schieberle's team recently discovered that heart could sense and enjoy the sweet smell of chocolate too. When they put small odor-emitting molecules from chocolate on one side of a dish, cells actually moved towards the aroma.

The heart, the lungs, the blood, the sperm and testis all have the abilities to recognize chemicals responsible for smells. Genomic studies (Deldmesser et al, 2006) showed that many tissues have working genes responsible for the perception of flavors. Sperm of sea urchines is able to recognize the odor and swim toward the egg. Human sperm might very well be capable of "smelling" their way to the egg too. And white blood cells sense the odors of bacteria to rush to the site of infection in the wound. Unfortunately, cancer cells can also sense their way out of the tumor in the direction of blood vessels, leading to metastasis. Smells can guide social preferences, trigger positive or negative memories, help to lose weight, reduce anxiety or give you nightmares. Smells can make or brake, kill or heal. They can have therapeutic or diagnostic use helping to understand gene-environment health paradigms and paving new avenues for future health care strategies.

REFERENCES

Feldmesser E, Olender T, Khen M, Yanai I, Ophir R, & Lancet D (2006). Widespread ectopic expression of olfactory receptor genes. BMC genomics, 7 PMID: 16716209

Schieberle P, & Molyneux RJ (2012). Quantitation of sensory-active and bioactive constituents of food: A Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry perspective. Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 60 (10), 2404-8 PMID: 22369090

Schieberle P., Do cells in the blood, heart and lungs smell the food we eat? 245th  Chemistry of Energy and Food, National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society, New Orleans, LA, April 7-11, 2013

Odors and Infections

Many illnesses are associated with distinct odors. Especially those caused by infectious or opportunistic microbes inside the body or on its surfaces.  Body odor of someone infected with C. difficile, for example, can appear "swampy", Rotavirus gives sharply sweet putrid smell that some people associate with wet dogs. H. pylori can create a range of foul odors, and pseudomonas infections can smell like grapes and bitter almonds. 

Infections like C. difficile are usually linked to a general imbalance of the intestinal microbiota, often referred to as dysbiosis. This means that the odors could be coming from several microbial species, hence could be different for different individuals. Does it mean odor-based diagnostics will never be enough specific?

Not according to a 2-year-old beagle from Netherland, named Cliff. After just a little over two months of training, the beagle learned to identify the C. diff toxin by sniffing people or their samples. During one test, he was able to identify 25 out of 30 infected patients and 265 of 270 non-infected individuals. He also correctly identified 50 of 50 C. diff positive stool samples and 47 of 50 samples from people that did not have this infection. That's sensitivity of 100% for samples and 83-93% for sniffing the air around the patients, and a specificity of 94-100%! And it took him less than 10 minutes to accurately perform 300 diagnostic tests.  

Dogs already do the dirty work with detecting molds. They can examine an office building with 200 rooms in just 8 hours, a task that would take us several days of measuring  moisture, probably without any result. Electronic noses would be of great help and many years of research are finally being translated into useful technologies - to be integrated with refrigerators and mobile phones. But until we are able to build smart devices to detect odors without labor-intensive dog training, perhaps we could train our own nozzles. Studies have shown we do get better with practice. 


REFERENCES

Bomers MK, van Agtmael MA, Luik H, van Veen MC, Vandenbroucke-Grauls CM, & Smulders YM (2012). Using a dog's superior olfactory sensitivity to identify Clostridium difficile in stools and patients: proof of principle study. BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 345 PMID: 23241268

Poulton J, Tarlow MJ. (1987) Diagnosis of rotavirus gastroenteritis by smell. Arch Dis Child. 1987 Aug;62(8):851-2. PMID: 3662595

Arnaud Tognetti, Megan N Williams, Nathalie Lybert, Mats Lekander, John Axelsson, Mats J Olsson, Humans can detect axillary odor cues of an acute respiratory infection in others, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, Volume 11, Issue 1, 2023, Pages 219–228, https://doi.org/10.1093/emph/eoad016

Come out smelling like a rose

You are what you eat. And you smell like your food. Well, it's actually a bit more complicated - as we emit complex combinations of volatile chemicals produced from food by our own metabolic system as well as microbes that call us home. Same foods can be translated into a wide range of odors, depending on the individual. People exhibit a large variety of smells, much more diverse than animals or plants. Thanks to variations in our digestive enzymes, diets, supplements, medicines, perfumes, detergents, clothes, cars and a lot of other chemicals we are exposed to via different routes. And there are many ways to smell of a rose - for example, by putting a few petals in the pocket, wearing Sa Majeste La Rose or drinking rose oil.

As confirmed by gas-chromatograph mass spectrometry using a thermo desorption system and a selective ion mode (Akiyama et al., 2006), linalool, citronellol and geraniol, which are the main components of rose essential oil, are emitted from our palms after an oral intake of rose oil. The aroma starts to increase 30 minutes after ingestion and reaches its peak within an hour, then slowly decreases, wearing off more than 100 times in the next 6 hours. Citronellol seems to evaporate the fastest, and linalool lingers a little longer than the other two compounds, but, of course, this may very well differ for different individuals.

A new "functional food" - Deo Perfume Candy  - is an attempt to take the sciences of smells and foods to a whole new level by creating a sweet treat intended to make you smell good. The main active ingredient of this candies is Geraniol. It is extracted from rose oil, which in its turn is extracted from real rose petals - one gram of oil per two thousand petals. Small amounts of citric acid and tangerine oil are added for more flavor. An healthy food company Beneo partnered with Bulgarian candy maker, Alpi, to develop this nutricosmetics  treat. At present it is sold exclusively on Amazon and has already collected 5 reviews - ranging from a praise of the observed fresh-just-showered smell to complaints of the need to eat a buck load of candies to see some kind of effect. Does it really work? It might for some of us. With the right chemistry and metabolism, and the right combination of everything else. You can enter it in Aurametrix as Deo Perfume Candy and check back later to see how it worked for others. Or just log what you normally eat and wear to find how your body could react to Geraniol.

You might want to compare it with “Fuwarinka” or Otoko Kaoru's chewing gum - despite a name that translates to "man smell" it also contains rose-flavored geraniol. Although one tester reported to smell like an apple-flavored soap after chewing it.  You can also experiment with the "coming soon" edible perfume from Netherlands, and its mystery ingredient (transformed by the body enzymes and excreted through the skin’s surface through perspiration). There will be more to come.

The possibilities are endless and so are the human odor outcomes.

REFERENCES

AKIYAMA, A., IMAI, K., ISHIDA, S., ITO, K., KOBAYASHI, T., NAKAMURA, H., NOSE, K., & TSUDA, T. (2006). Determination of Aromatic Compounds in Exhalated from Human Skin by Solid-Phase Micro Extraction and GC/MS with Thermo Desorption System BUNSEKI KAGAKU, 55 (10), 787-792 DOI: 10.2116/bunsekikagaku.55.787

Chemicals in food affecting body odor

Volatile compounds (complex organic and simple like hydrogen sulfide and ammonia), together with sugars and acids, are the main chemicals determining the characteristic aroma of food, as well as odors related to human body.

The bad smells are generally the result of a combination of odorous sulfur compounds and ammonia.

Volatile sulfur compounds are produced through bacterial metabolism of sulfur amino acids such as cysteine and methionine. High sulfur content in food is another source.

Choline  - a quaternary saturated amine - can lead to increases in the amount of trimethylamine responsible for sweet and sickly, fish-like smell.

How to estimate the amount of choline, sulfur and sulfur-containing aminoacids in your food?
You can do it easily with Aurametrix.
Watch these videos:

Studying body odor: one step at a time

Unpleasant body odors could be a sign of a disease. But even when the cause of the disease is known - an example is trimethylaminuria or TMAU - there are no one-size-fits-all solutions. Elimination of choline and other essential nutrients from diet can be harmful and unhelpful.  Everyone has their own unique needs, with individual combinations of foods, activities and optimal environmental conditions.

An earlier survey of about 100 body odor and halitosis sufferers indicated stress (34%), food (25%) and environment, including the weather and perfumed products (15%) as main triggers of odors. 23% of sufferers did not know what the trigger was.

Our study seems to have less unknowns. As you see from the picture, 60% of participants have both body odor and halitosis. Only 22% of participants were diagnosed with TMAU, one third has IBS, one third has environmental sensitivities (mostly pollen and mold allergies, but some have dust mite and pet allergies and chemical sensitivities). Over 60% of participants reported sensitivities to specific foods. Most frequent was lactose sensitivity.

It is known that a specific diet, infections and diseases have major impact on variations in human body odor.  Some of our early results on fatty and ammonia types of odors identified a few food ingredients and their maldigestion as potential causes. Our next posts on musty and smoky odors, as well as unpleasant odors in general will tell more.

e-mail to

 for more information

And stay tuned for results!

REFERENCES
Jan Havlicek, & Pavlina Lenochova (2008). Environmental effects on human body odour Chemical Signals in Vertebrates DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-73945-8_19

Havlicek, J., & Lenochova, P. (2006). The Effect of Meat Consumption on Body Odor Attractiveness Chemical Senses, 31 (8), 747-752 DOI: 10.1093/chemse/bjl017

Moshkin M, Litvinova N, Litvinova EA, Bedareva A, Lutsyuk A, Gerlinskaya L. Scent Recognition of Infected Status in Humans. J Sex Med. 2011 Dec 6. doi: 10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02562.x.

The smell of Christmas

How does Christmas smell like? 

Like cinnamon! So say studies by European scientists  [1-3]. And even though the smell of cinnamon is described as "pungent" (besides "warm", 'sweet", and "spicy"), it fires up our brains, evoking a joyful Christmas mood and making us more generous. 

Cinnamon is classified as a stimulant. Smelling and tasting cinnamon could enhance attention and virtual recognition memory [4], at least in comparison to smells of peppermint, jasmine or cherries. In addition to its many healthy properties - like fighting E.coli in unpasteurized juices, lowering concentration of  fasting glucose, triglycerides, and total cholesterol - Cinnamon can make you feel fuller for longer [5]. So for those of us hoping to lose some weight - a cinnamon-flavored floss would be a good replacement for a Christmas desert.

Aggregate correlations - aka experience of the crowds analyzed in Aurametrix - tell many good things about Cinnamon. For example, that it led to less severe joint pain and helped with bad breath. Although - in higher concentrations - it was the reason of a yellowish skin.

Unfortunately for those with digestive problems, other Christmas-flavored foods seemed to have more side effects. Aurametrix correlations for Apple told that exceeding sensitivity thresholds could lead to gas, fecal and musty smell (was this why an apple a day kept the doctor away?). Too much orange was associated with bloating, indigestion and yellow stool. Pumpkin, on the other hand, lead to slightly better flavored gas!

With more daily observations entered by the users, Aurametrix will make more correlations between wellbeing and food flavors. But for now -

Merry Christmas! And let's smell some cinnamon!



REFERENCES

1. Seo HS, Buschhüter D, & Hummel T (2009). Odor attributes change in relation to the time of the year. Cinnamon odor is more familiar and pleasant during Christmas season than summertime. Appetite, 53 (2), 222-5 PMID: 19576937

2. Martin Lindström, Philip Kotler. Brand Sense: Sensory Secrets Behind the Stuff We Buy. Simon and Schuster, Feb 2, 2010

3. Idle JR. Christmas gingerbread (Lebkuchen) and Christmas cheer--review of the potential role of mood elevating amphetamine-like compounds formed in vivo and in furno. Prague.Med Rep. 2005;106(1):27-38.

4. Phillip Zoladz.  2003-2004 Allyn & Bacon Award Abstracts. Impact of the Chemical Senses on Augmenting Memory, Attention, Reaction Time, Problem Solving, and Response Variability: The Differential Role of Retronasal Versus Orthonasal Odorant Administration

5. Hlebowicz, J., Hlebowicz, A., Lindstedt, S., Bjorgell, O., Hoglund, P., Holst, J., Darwiche, G., & Almer, L. (2009). Effects of 1 and 3 g cinnamon on gastric emptying, satiety, and postprandial blood glucose, insulin, glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, glucagon-like peptide 1, and ghrelin concentrations in healthy subjects American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 89 (3), 815-821 DOI: 10.3945/ajcn.2008.26807

6. Khan A, Safdar M, Ali Khan MM, Khattak KN, Anderson RA. Cinnamon improves glucose and lipids of people with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2003;26:3215–8.

7. Catherine Ulbricht, Erica Seamon, Regina C. Windsor, Nicole Armbruester, J. Kathryn Bryan, Dawn Costa, Nicole Giese, Joerg Gruenwald, Ramon Iovin, Richard Isaac, Jill M. Grimes Serrano, Shaina Tanguay-Colucci, Wendy Weissner, Heeja Yoon, and Jie Zhang. An Evidence-Based Systematic Review of Cinnamon (Cinnamomum spp.) by the Natural Standard Research Collaboration.  Journal of Dietary Supplements, December 2011, Vol. 8, No. 4 : Pages 378-454 (doi: 10.3109/19390211.2011.627783)