Life

Does Food Make My Vagina Smell Different?

by Lindsay E. Mack

First things first: your vagina should not be expected to smell like a fresh batch of cupcakes. It just won't. It's going to smell like vagina. That said, certain things may slightly affect your own odor down there. For instance, you may wonder, does food make my vagina smell different? Because the asparagus effect is certainly for real.

In short, what you eat may affect your vaginal scent. According to Women's Health, foods such as onions, red meat, and dairy may influence your vagina's pH balance, affecting the way it smells. As further noted by Women's Health, consuming a lot of fruit and juices may even cause things to have a sweet scent. (Remember that lore about drinking pineapple juice? Maybe it does have some basis in reality.)

Unfortunately, there do not appear to be any solid scientific studies on this topic, although I can imagine that grant proposal would be fun to write. In the meantime, you can rely on anecdotal advice from Glamour and cut back on caffeine and preservatives for a less bitter aroma.

So if foods don't directly affect your natural scent, then what's up with asparagus? For some people, it seems to affect the smell down there more than any other food. According to Live Science, that distinct smell may be due to compounds in asparagus that contain sulfur, and then leave your body in the expected fashion. It can give your pee, as well as the entire surrounding area, that familiar tang. Actually, the pesky asparagus smell can take a little longer to vacate your vagina, which is also completely normal.

Lastly, there's a non-food habit that may affect your vaginal scent as well: smoking. Well, at least according to Elite Daily, smoking may result in some altered scents down there, thanks to the cigarette chemicals in your bloodstream. Basically, your vagina's smell says a lot about almost everything you put in your mouth.