Don’t sniff my armpits, son.

Somewhere in Hamura, Japan, at a Kappa Sushi restaurant, my family and I sat waiting for a table. The August heat outside was sweltering; I was pleased to feel the refreshing breeze of an air conditioner while we waited for a lunch table on a bench in the sushi restaurant. As we sat, my eldest son leaned onto my shoulder. “Hmmm,” he said as he sniffed my back and my armpits, “you smell like flowers and soap and mommy and shampoo and summer.” I leaned back a little. “Um, thank you?” He started to lift my arm and get a real whiff. I leaned away. “Honey, it’s not nice to sniff Mommy’s armpits in public.” He smiled a huge, gap toothed smile. “You smell like happy love.” I smiled, “Well then have a hug.” And I hugged him, wishing he wouldn’t sniff my armpits in public.

I wondered: perhaps my armpits do smell like love? I thought I smelled like my homemade hygiene products. I know my armpits smell lightly of essential oils of lavender, lemon, bergamot and white fir. I’ve also noticed that as I run every day, eat less sugar and almost no dairy, and diligently stick to my wheat free celiac disease friendly diet, that I smell fresh, longer. However, my all natural deodorant isn’t as powerful as the aluminum laden store brands. In that moment, as my son sniffed my pits just after a hot August car ride, I felt a little worried that I stunk. Does my son detect something I do not? Is my body scent tied to his happy feelings of security and familial love? I decided to dig deeper once I got home.

My initial google search revealed that babies can recognize their mothers by smell.[1] Even at 7 years old, this is true for my son. His giant whiff of my apocrine gland fueled summer armpit scent, near lunch time, cued his brain to think: “Mommy! Love! Food!” Could his early year of exclusively breastfeeding after birth have influenced his “love” of my “mommy smell”? Peer reviewed science indicates this is a possibility, as scent, nourishment, and psychological and emotional attachment are intrinsically entwined. Moreover, genetics and epigenetic expression, in addition to symbiotic bacteria on our skin influence the scents (or stink) we exude via our apocrine glands daily.

Besides armpits, apocrine glands exist on a humans hands, scalp, on the breasts near milk-emitting nipples and areolas, and serve as a source of smell that is documented scientifically to influence interpersonal communication.[2] Scent exposure has been clinically proven to elicit emotionally charged childhood memories in many humans worldwide, via a complex series of signals from your olfactory nerve endings that translate and connect to nerves responsible for memories throughout the brain.[3] Even more interestingly, while scent IS hard to remember, each scent affects the brain and body in unique physiological ways.[4] Aromas, such as body odor or even the relaxing esters of lavender, enters your nose, passed through the thalamus, is then relayed into the limbic system as well as the entorhinal and hippocampal regions of his brain.[5] It then causes reactions in every system of your body, from blood pressure to memory pathways and so much more. Just the mere scent of lemon has been noted to increase the perception of one’s own health, while lavender is correlated to relaxation and pleasant moods.[6] Scientific findings indicating that scent effects mood and emotional life management have critically assisted in the growth of the aromatherapy industry (which, if you follow this blog at all, you know I am a huge fan of aromatherapy.)[7] Considering the fact that olfactory nerve is the only nerve in the whole body openly exposed to the air, it is not surprising my child – or anyone else for that matter - is so profoundly affected by what they catch a whiff of while waiting for lunch.

The ability to smell, and smell clearly is an indicator of health. Digging deeper, at the genetic and cellular level, major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins that are exuded in sweat thanks to the apocrine glands, have also been found to influence scent preference and even mate attractiveness in humans. MHC proteins, also called the human leukocyte antigen (HLA), are a set of cellular surface proteins which effect acquired immune functionality, in addition to human scent (depending on quality of health.) Basically, each cell in the tissues of our body are coated with self-identifying proteins that our immune system then codes as part of our body.[8] The main function of MHC molecules is to bind to pathogen peptide fragments and display them on the surface of each cell for recognition by the appropriate T-cells – the killer cells of our immune system.[9] Our immune system consequently remembers foreign invader cells (viruses or bacteria) and destroys them with specialized enzymes like a swarm of bees on an insect invading a hive, all thanks to MHC proteins. Humans sweat out MHC proteins, and other humans receive chemical communication via perception of stink or scent.

It is distinctly possible that my son indeed smelled my cellular-based MHC expression of my sweaty good health. He may also be cuing into the scent based biological puzzle pieces linked to the memories of mommy, food, and love in the odor-place representation of the entorhinal and hippocampal regions of his brain.[10] Perhaps, he may simply associate my faint scent of lavender, bergamot, lemon, and white fir with happy loving times with mom, too. However, in conclusion, science indicates that scent, psychological, emotional attachment are intrinsically entwined with genetics, epigenetic expression, and familial bonding – and as a result, my 7 year old’s weird armpit sniffing moment is both fascinating and an incredibly complicated expression of love on a hot summer day. In spite of this discovery I still insist that my kids abstain from sniffing my armpits in public. Yes, I love them, too. Just...no.

Post Script: I know my citations aren’t perfectly expressed in APA or MLA style. The point is that I cited my references, used peer reviewed journals, and actually gave credit where credit is due JUST so you know I am not making this stuff up or plagiarizing. I’ll perfect the citations once if I ever publish this in a book. In the meantime, enjoy my research and don’t plagiarize my work. Love, Mariah W. signed, 11:46AM 8 August 2016. Until then, here are my Resources:

[1] Wedekind, Claus. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology. (2007) “Body odours and body odour preferences in humans.” Oxford University Press, Chapter 22.

[2]Furlow, F. Bryant. (1996, 1 March. Reviewed 2016, 9 June.) The Smell of Love. Psychology Today. Retrieved August 7 2016 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199603/the-smell-love

[3] Norwegian University of Science and Technology. (2014, April 16). How smells stick to your memories: Your nose can be a pathfinder. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 7, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140416133341.htm

[4] Ibid

[5] Holmes, Peter. Aromatica: A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics, Volume I. Singing Dragon, 2016. Page 122

[6] Ibid

[7] Ibid

[8] Ibid

[9] Ibid

[10] Norwegian University of Science and Technology. (2014, April 16). How smells stick to your memories: Your nose can be a pathfinder. ScienceDaily. Retrieved August 7, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140416133341.htm

#parenthood #essentialoils #bodyodor #children #armpits #brain #memory #scent