HOT OFF YAHOO - The Pill Makes Women Pick Bad Mates

[AllardChardon]

The Pill Makes Women Pick Bad Mates
Jeanna Bryner - Senior Writer
LiveScience.com
Tue Aug 12, 8:21 PM ET

Birth-control pills could screw up a woman's ability to sniff out a compatible mate, a new study finds.

While several factors can send a woman swooning, including big brains and brawn, body odor can be critical in the final decision, the researchers say. That's because beneath a woman's flowery fragrance or a guy's musk the body sends out aromatic molecules that indicate genetic compatibility.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes are involved in immune response and other functions, and the best mates are those that have different MHC smells than you. The new study reveals, however, that when women are on the pill they prefer guys with matching MHC odors.

MHC genes churn out substances that tell the body whether a cell is a native or an invader. When individuals with different MHC genes mate, their offspring's immune systems can recognize a broader range of foreign cells, making them more fit.

Past studies have suggested couples with dissimilar MHC genes are more satisfied and more likely to be faithful to a mate. And the opposite is also true with matchng-MHC couples showing less satisfaction and more wandering eyes.

"Not only could MHC-similarity in couples lead to fertility problems," said lead researcher Stewart Craig Roberts, an evolutionary psychologist at the University of Newcastle in England, "but it could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the contraceptive pill, as odor perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners."

Sexy scents

The study involved about 100 women, aged 18 to 35, who chose which of six male body-odor samples they preferred. They were tested at the start of the study when none of the participants were taking contraceptive pills and three months later after 40 of the women had started taking the pill more than two months prior.

For the non-pill users, results didn't show a significant preference for similar or dissimilar MHC odors. When women started taking birth control, their odor preferences changed. These women were much more likely than non-pill users to prefer MHC-similar odors.

"The results showed that the preferences of women who began using the contraceptive pill shifted towards men with genetically similar odors," Roberts said.

Pregnant state

Based on the work by Claus Wedekind, a University of Lausanne researcher who preformed similar studies in the 1990s, Roberts suggests a likely reason for the pill's effect on a woman's odor preferences. The pill puts a woman's body into a hormonally pregnant state (the reason she doesn't ovulate), and during that time there would be no reason to seek out a mate.

"When women are pregnant there's no selection pressure, evolutionarily speaking, for having a preference for genetically dissimilar odors," Roberts said. "And if there is any pressure at all it would be towards relatives, who would be more genetically similar, because the relatives would help those individuals rear the baby."

So the pill puts a woman's body into a post-mating state, even though she might be still in the game.

"The pill is in effect mirroring a natural shift but at an inappropriate time," Roberts told LiveScience.

The results are detailed in the current issue of the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.


THIS EXPLAINS ALOT!!

 

[desertslave]

It certainly does!!!!

 

[rgraham666]

I'm way past caring. Most of the women I date are past or near menopause.

 

[Equinoxe]

It doesn't explain anything unless you know what the effect size is—and that article doesn't tell you what the effect size is.

 

[Anna_Malia75]

Actually, I did pretty well on my own . . .

 

[Svenskaflicka]

So if you use birth control and then go off it, you risk loosing interest in your husband because he doesn't smell the same?

Yeah, that's a good reason for not using pills...

I'll stick to condoms, thank you.

 

[AllardChardon]

I have a daughter that tried birth control pills and they did not work for her. I could not tolerate them either. Once she stopped taking them, she felt so much better, no more wild mood swings with bouts of crying. No more false pregancies symptoms. The barrier methods worked and were much more natural.

There is alot to be said for taking control of your body and limiting pregnancies, but the pill makes it too easy, I think. And you are not the same woman while you are on them. Just like you are not the same woman when you are pregnant. I had four children and am no longer menstruating. And have only begun to find myself again, post hormone drip.

 

[Just-Legal]

This has been studied before (damned if I can remember where I read it but if I do I'll post it).

On the "not the same woman on the pill" note - I agree, but for *vastly* diferent reasons to yours Allard. I've trotted them out quite enough, so I won't restate them here

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Hmpf! I say a woman can easily marry the wrong guy whether she's on the pill or not. Ask anyone who had to divorce the first and try again . . . and succeeded!

Naturally, the same applies to men . . .

 

[AllardChardon]

I was not on BC pills and still chose the wrong man. But I am not going to marry again no matter how good the next man smells.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Pill or no pill, men always smell nicer in the beginning when you're just dating and he showers regularly, brushes his teeth twice a day, and wears cologne or after shave.
Once you're married, there will be farts, burps and skidmarks all the way, baby!

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Pill or no pill, men always smell nicer in the beginning when you're just dating and he showers regularly, brushes his teeth twice a day, and wears cologne or after shave.
Once you're married, there will be farts, burps and skidmarks all the way, baby!

Not with me, there isn't! Hmpf!

 

[AllardChardon]

I decided to post this thread for the women who are on the pill right now and possibly looking for the right man. They might want to try another form of birth control for awhile if this study is true.

 

[Vermilion]

well i'm on the pill, getting married in 3 weeks and am planning to come off the pill - I hope this doesn;t screw things up before they even have a shot...

Mind you, I *think* I may have started taking the pill *after* getting together with the Fiance, which would give me more hope for us!

I do love smelling him though... hope that doesn't change

x
V

 

[LadyAria]

Synthetic hormones cannot be good for the body. I know one of my friends with a severe thyroid condition was told the birth control pills she took contribute to her hormonal imbalance. She, therefore, switched to the barrier method. It has helped get her thyroid under control without surgery.

Personally, I used the pills for year and had issues with weight gain, mood swings and false pregnancy symptoms. So much so, I didn't even know I was pregnant with my first son while I was on the pill until the third month.

Gladly, I no longer have to deal with those issues.

It is interesting the tie between scent and genetics. The first thing I noticed about the gentleman I am dating now is how much I liked his natural scent. One of the first things I told him was leave the cologne at home. I love the way you smell without it.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Synthetic hormones cannot be good for the body. I know one of my friends with a severe thyroid condition was told the birth control pills she took contribute to her hormonal imbalance. She, therefore, switched to the barrier method. It has helped get her thyroid under control without surgery.

Personally, I used the pills for year and had issues with weight gain, mood swings and false pregnancy symptoms. So much so, I didn't even know I was pregnant with my first son while I was on the pill until the third month.

Gladly, I no longer have to deal with those issues.

It is interesting the tie between scent and genetics. The first thing I noticed about the gentleman I am dating now is how much I liked his natural scent. One of the first things I told him was leave the cologne at home. I love the way you smell without it.

I saw something on that a while back but neglected to read the entire thing. In spite of all the men's toiletries on the market, it appears that women really don't like colognes. Please, ladies, why has it taken so long for someone to tell us?

 

[LadyAria]

I saw something on that a while back but neglected to read the entire thing. In spite of all the men's toiletries on the market, it appears that women really don't like colognes. Please, ladies, why has it taken so long for someone to tell us?

Generally, I do like cologne. However, he just has such an incredible natural smell. I've really never had the experience before with another man preferring the natural scent. Most men are a little musky and sour stinky. This guy just has some other chemical thing going on that clicks with my sense of smell.

 

[Vermilion]

I love the smell of my man, it's sweet and musky and just delicious, but when he does wear his cologne (special occasions only) it just enhances and adds to his natural smell - I can still smell him underneath, but there's a scrummy citrusy lavender scent on top - make me jump him every time!
x
V

 

[Just-Legal]

I got with my other half before I went back on BC, and he still smells nummy to me

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Us poor guys have to endure 19 varieties of seafood scents.

 

[Corylea]

When I was on the pill, it made my depression worse. I found this out one month when I was so depressed that I couldn't manage to make it to the pharmacy to pick up my next packet of pills. After a week or so, I felt better. Well, that was only one data point, so the next month, I went back on the pill and felt awful again. The month after that, I didn't take the pill and my depression improved.

All of this stuff is very individual, of course; with some women's body chemistry, the pill actually improves their mood.

As for smell, I have an ex-lover who is the yummiest-smelling man I've ever seen. We're polyamorous, so his other girlfriends and I talked about him, and each of them told me independently that he smelled better than any man, ever. My husband asked me once, "What does that guy *have*, that all the women want him?" And I said, "Well, he's smart and funny and interesting, but he's not the only guy like that. I think the secret of his success with women is really pheromones." My husband was astonished.

 

[humphrey]

I really dig the smell of my armpits, i am dead serious.

 

[Svenskaflicka]

I saw something on that a while back but neglected to read the entire thing. In spite of all the men's toiletries on the market, it appears that women really don't like colognes. Please, ladies, why has it taken so long for someone to tell us?

I love the combination of a sessy after shave and a man's warm skin. But just like with women, not all scents go for everyone. That's why you should always squirt a little perfume on your skin and let it rest for an hour, then you can tell if it suits you or not. If it doesn't, then you'll reek perfume and nothign else. If it suits you, you'll make me inhale through my mouth with my nose buried in your neck.

 

[AllardChardon]

Staying with the scent discussion, I know what you mean. A girlfriend introduced me to a guy thinking we might hit it off. He was a talkative goof, but his neck smelled so good, without cologne, I almost swooned. First time for that reaction.

The same womam then introduced me to his brother whome she loved and hoped to keep. That was a big mistake. I dumped the first brother and went for the second. He complied fully. Why? Because he smelled even better than his brother. I was a bit ashamed but we stayed together for seven years and it ended badly, I am sad to say. But, that is what I call Sexual Chemistry IA in the school of life. It happens so rarely, it must be deemed valuable.

 

[AllardChardon]

Another example of scent being the master of attraction came in an unlikely form.

In the early 70s a friend of mine was an asst. manager at a gay disco club in North Hollywood called The Paradise Ballroom. I lived in Orange County at the time and was usually bored out of my mind. Often I would cruise up to his club to have a little fun.

On nights when I was ovulating, lots of gay men would buy me drinks and ask me to dance even though I was a hetero woman. They would say things like, "I don't know why I am talking to you or buying you a drink. Oh I love this Diana Ross song, let's go dance!"

A couple of weeks later when I was on my period I would arrive and stand by myself all night long, like I had the plague. After a couple of months of this, I figured it out and went to the club specifically when I was ovulating to check it out. It worked every time. My natural scent ignited reactions in gay men that confused them and delighted me.