Human Pheromones – Fact or Fiction

Pheromone research has been extensive in the animal kingdom. Pheromones are a naturally occurring chemical compound found in insects, animals, and supposedly humans. When pheromones are secreted they dictate sexual behavior and sexual desire. The term ‘pheromone’ was coined in 1959 by German scientists to describe the sex attractants of insects. The word ‘pheromone’ is based on the Greek words pheran which means to transfer and horman which means to excite.

Animals and insects use pheromones as communication. They can be consciously detected over long distances. They help animals recognize mates, mark territory and signal sexual interest. Animal and insect pheromones are used today in pest control products to lure insects into traps or to repel other insects or animals from coming into a certain territory. Hunters use female animal pheromones to attract the male as prey.

The concept of human pheromones has been debated and researched for years. Dr. Winnifred Cutler, a biologist and behavioral endocrinologist is one of the leading researchers on human pheromones. She has linked pheromones to effects on women’s menstrual cycles and fertility. Male pheromones can cause their female partners to be more fertile, have regular menstrual cycles and milder menopause.

Dr. Cutler’s studies show that women are most affected by pheromones, those of men and of other women. Pheromones explain why women who live together usually menstruate at the same time. Dr. Cutler reports that “It’s remarkable. A very clear pattern has been emerging and it confirms that a woman’s optimal reproductive health is part of a finely tuned system and that a man, on a regular and sustained basis, is an essential part of it.” More studies are being done to see how pheromones can impact and help those who are having fertility problems. So it turns out men are useful to women after all. It’s about time we found out what they were good for.

So how do pheromones work? Humans seem to have lost the capacity to consciously detect pheromones, but the perception is still there on a subconscious level. Scent does go through the most primal part of our brain, the same part that deals with memory and emotion. Odors have been shown to penetrate the human subconscious and cause physical reactions such as change in blood pressure, respiration and pulse rates. The same happens with pheromones. They are subconsciously detected and illicit an internal sexual response. Scientists have found that pheromones are detected through the Vomeronasal Organ in the nose. The vomeronasal organ is located near the entrance of the nose. It detects the pheromones then sends a signal to the brain.

According to an article in “Psychology Today” how we perceive body odors of others is a highly selective process. We usually smell best to someone whose genetic make up is most different than our own. This benefits us in the long run when it comes to producing strong, healthy children. Men are said to secrete the pheromone Androstenone to attract women and women secrete Androstenol to attract men. Though in today’s super clean and hygienic society we often wash away all of our natural scent. In the animal world pheromones still dictate sexual behavior and response. Humans have lost much of that, though there are pheromone products on the market are supposed to help, but are any of the products worth buying? Dr. Winnifred Cutler did a study using a commercial pheromone called Athena, which she developed. Seventy Four percent of those studied experienced increases in hugging, kissing, and sexual intercourse.

What about the rest of the products on the market? Some are pretty expensive. Many companies have taken the research and made their own products making extraordinary claims that these colognes and perfumes will have the opposite sex falling to their feet in front of you or lined up to get into your bed. They claim you will be irresistible to the opposite sex. So I wanted to know if there is any basis to these claims, do any of these products actually work. So I conducted my own study on several pheromone colognes, sprays, gels and oils.

I enlisted my husband as a guinea pig and took a few pheromone products for a test run. We tried them on each other and wore them out into the real world. No one attacked either one of us though we did receive some extra attention from the opposite sex while wearing some of the products. My conclusion is if you want to make the opposite sex fall at your feet like the ads claim, well it’s not going to happen, but if you want some extra attention or a bit of an edge, they might work to your advantage. If you want to spice up your love life with an existing partner, that is possible.

We found that the products seem to work best when the man and woman are both wearing the corresponding female or male based pheromones. The products that worked best for us were The Edge for him and The Edge for her. When we wore those we had an unbelievable night of lovemaking. Alter Ego products for him and her came in a distant second, but there was definitely a big gap in the response factors. Some other products caused a few blips and interesting responses but believe me, no one was being attacked by strangers and the doors were not being beaten down by any would be lovers.

As far as the other wonderful benefits of human pheromones I can not testify, though I have always pretty much had a man in my life and I’ve never had menstrual problems or fertility issues. I’ll leave those studies to the scientists though who are now doing extensive research on the implications pheromones may have involving fertility and even depression.