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The Powerful Spell of Grapefruit

A new study has found that men under the powerful spell of grapefruit aroma think the women around them are six years younger than they actually are. The effect is similar to beer goggles, only the men are totally sober. An article at Phillyburbs.com describes the study:

They took 37 men and women and asked them to estimate the age of models in photographs while wearing masks infused with the odors of grapefruit, cucumbers and grapes and then while wearing plain surgical masks.

Grapes and cucumbers produced no results, but when wearing the grapefruit masks, the participants overall estimated the models to be three years younger.

But when it was broken down by gender, the women smelling grapefruit registered no perceptible difference in the models' ages, while the men guessed them to be six years younger.

The article also says that the researchers literally smeared middle-aged women with broccoli, banana, spearmint leaves and lavender but this did not make men think they were younger. Only grapefruit worked. So, if you want to look younger we recommend carrying a grapefruit or two around in your purse. Or, you could carry a grapefruit spray and secretly release it when in the presence of a man you want to think you are six years younger. As long as the object of your affections a) isn't allergic to grapefruit, b) hasn't read the medical study in question or c) really prefers older women, it's absolutely foolproof.

Posted on June 21, 2005

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