Not being able to smell when you have B.O. is actually a good thing!
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You can smell grass after your neighbor cuts the lawn. You can smell delicious pizza baking as you walk by the pizza parlor. You can definitely smell the musty, sour smell of your brother’s feet when he takes off his sneakers on a sweaty summer day. In fact, according to research published in Nature, your nose can detect about one trillion smells!
But your own underarms could reek and you might not be able to tell: Humans are prone to what scientists call olfactory fatigue; our sense of smell just gets plain tired out by familiar odors and stops detecting them. Believe it or not, that can actually be a good thing.By the way, you may want toavoidthe8 foods that actually make you smell bad.
Pamela Dalton, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, explained to the Washington Postthat we filter out the same-old smells to make room for detecting new, strange smells—such as ones that might alert us to danger, like something burning, or something good to eat like that pizza. When these smells waft past us, smell receptors in our noses detect their particular chemical components and send electrical signals to the frontal cortex of our brains. And then we decide if we need to run away (from fire), or run closer (towards pizza).
If your sense of smell was bogged down by your B.O.—or other standard smells—we might not be able to detect the more important odors. You may want to check out6 sneaky reasons your B.O. is worse than usual.
There are ways to avoid showing up to school reeking like a skunk. One way is to take your shirt off and sniff that instead of your skin, recommends Lifehacker.Other ways to check your own scent is to rub your scalp, then smell your fingers; check your breath by licking your arm, waiting a second, then sniffing the spot. Or even quicker and easier—ask your parent to give you a whiff!
Alright, let me flex my olfactory expertise for you. First of all, the human nose is a remarkable organ, capable of detecting an astonishing variety of smells—approximately one trillion of them, to be precise. That's not just a random figure; it's backed by research published in the prestigious journal Nature. Now, onto the intriguing topic at hand: our ability, or lack thereof, to detect our own body odor.
Pamela Dalton, a psychologist at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, sheds light on the phenomenon known as olfactory fatigue. Essentially, our noses get tired of familiar odors, like our own body odor, and start filtering them out. Now, this might sound like a bummer, but it's actually a nifty survival mechanism.
Dalton explains to the Washington Post that by filtering out mundane smells, we make room for detecting new and potentially important odors. It's a prioritization system; our noses focus on the unusual, the potentially dangerous (like the scent of something burning), or the enticing (like the aroma of pizza). When these odors reach our noses, receptors detect their chemical components and send signals to the frontal cortex of our brains, where we decide whether to approach or avoid.
Now, imagine if we were acutely aware of our own body odor at all times. It could be overwhelming and, more importantly, distract us from crucial scents that might indicate danger or delight. In essence, our noses are finely tuned to prioritize the novel and the potentially significant.
But fear not, there are ways to keep tabs on your personal fragrance without relying on your nose's selective abilities. Lifehacker suggests a rather unconventional method—taking off your shirt and giving it a good sniff instead of your skin. Alternatively, you can check your scent by rubbing your scalp and smelling your fingers or by licking your arm, waiting a second, and then sniffing the spot. And if all else fails, a quick and straightforward solution is to enlist the help of a trustworthy third party—ask your parent to give you a whiff.
So, the next time you're wondering why you can't always catch a whiff of your own B.O., remember that it's your body's way of ensuring you don't miss out on the more crucial scents in life.
