Pheromones Are Not Aphrodisiacs - But They Can Be The Next Best Thing!
Pheromones can be used as romantic tools - But they are not clubs!
By Bob Diamond R.Ph
By definition, a pheromone is a chemical that triggers a natural behavioral response in another member of the same species. There are alarm pheromones, food trail pheromones used by ants and other insects to guide others to food, etc., sex pheromones, and many others that affect behavior…
Pheromones will not cause the next man or woman that you run into to hop into bed with you - no questions asked. But what they will do is that they will cause that person of the opposite sex within your same species to look at you as being a little more desirable than you would have been without the olfactory (smell) triggering mechanism’s assistance.
Attractiveness to another is a many faceted affair. Much of it has to do with cultural and experiential biases. All things being equal, if you are offered a choice of two or three potential mates, research has shown that you will probably choose the one that exhibits the secret magic ingredient – the pheromone that you have been programmed to respond to.
I don't know the chemical formula of the pheromone that my wife Carla was sending out on the day I met her, but I can tell you that it is just as potent now as it was over twenty years ago.
Many of the people who have been studied were already in meaningful relationships, some wanting to conceive, others who were post-menopausal women wanting to recapture some of the romance of their youth.
This is an introduction, not an in-depth study of the subject. I am only going to use the results of one very authoritative study by Norma McCoy and Lisa Pitino that indicates that pheromones can be very effective
Following Are The Results Of One Important Pheromone Study
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Pheromonal Influences on Sociosexual Behavior in Young Women
Physiology and Behavior 75 (March 2002) 367-375
Norma L. McCoy, Lisa Pitino
Dept. of Psychology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA 94132-4168
Copyright 2002. Elsevier Science Inc.
ABSTRACT
A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of a synthesized putative female pheromone was conducted with regularly menstruating, university women (N = 36, mean age = 27.8). The pheromone formula was derived from earlier work investigating the underarm secretions of fertile, sexually active, heterosexual women.
A vial of either synthesized pheromone or placebo was selected blindly and added to a subject's perfume. Subjects recorded seven sociosexual behaviors and reported them weekly across three menstrual cycles. Beginning with Day 8 of each cycle, the first cycle contained a 2-week baseline period followed by an experimental period of as many as 3 weeks each from the next two cycles for a maximum of 6 weeks.
The 19 pheromone and 17 placebo subjects did not differ significantly in age, weight, body mass index, dating status or ethnicity nor in reported accuracy, back-filling data, perception of a positive effect or perfume use. Placebo subjects were significantly taller than pheromone subjects. Except for male approaches, subjects did not differ significantly at baseline in average weekly sociosexual behaviors.
A significantly greater proportion of pheromone users compared with placebo users increased over baseline in frequency of sexual intercourse, sleeping next to a partner, formal dates and petting/affection/kissing but not in frequency of male approaches, informal dates … Three or more sociosexual behaviors increased over baseline for 74% of pheromone users compared with 23% of placebo users.
We conclude that this synthesized pheromone formula acted as a sex attractant pheromone and increased the sexual attractiveness of women to men.
2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.
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Note* The statement in the study above “…sociosexual behaviors increased over baseline for 74% of pheromone users compared with 23% of placebo users.” is, in the eyes of most researchers, big-time evidence that pheromones do work.
There are also studies that show that men can improve their attractiveness to their lady friends as well, assuming that they are properly bathed and attired, etc.
The take home here ladies and gentlemen is that pheromones can be used as romantic tools - but they are not clubs!
I don’t have the knowledge that would allow me to make any recommendations as which work and which don’t.
I’ll let you do the research to find out which formula works best in your own case.
Bob Diamond R.Ph
Suggested Reading:
http://www.apa.org/monitor/oct02/pheromones.html
http://www-news.uchicago.edu/releases/98/980311.McClintock.shtml
http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9803/11/pheromones/
http://www.hhmi.org/senses/d230.html
