Pheromones, Sex and Rising Testosterone

Scientists have known for the past 20 years that the nose has two sensory channels. The first is the well-known olfactory system, commonly known as smell. The second channel is the vomeronasal system, or V.O. channel. In mammals each system has its own separate organs and nerves, which go to different parts of the brain. The purpose of the V.O. channel is to detect pheromones.

Thirty years ago Dr. Berliner of the University of Utah found that extracted human pheromones could alter people’s moods. Later B. Jafek and D. Moran of the Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center at the University of Colorado were able to actually locate the V.O. organ in the human nose. They found two tiny pits on both sides of the septum, the cartilage that divides the left and right nostrils. The pits are just inside the opening of the nose. Behind the holes are tubes lined with special cells that are thought to be the actual pheromone detectors.

Human pheromones are an evolutionary remnant from a time when humans relied on scent to attract their mates. It’s been well documented that pheromones can trigger powerful sexual responses in men and women. Their incredible power is demonstrated in the way a female dog in heat can drive other dogs miles away crazy with sexual desire.

The evolutionary process has weakened our ability to produce pheromones in sufficient quantities to have a significant impact on the opposite sex, as other forms of communication have taken the place of pheromones. While our ability to produce large amounts of pheromones has been diminished, however, our ability to sense and respond to them has not.

So how does all of that relate to building muscle? The real breakthrough for bodybuilders came from an obsure source. A psychology professor, Martha McClintock of the University of Chicago, had been trying to solve the puzzle of converging menstrual cycles (CMC). It’s well known that women living in close proximity develop synchronized menstrual cycles. She published a ground-breaking experiment in the science journal Nature that proved that CMC occurred due to a specific group of pheromones, called copulins, produced by women.

Biologists Karl Grammer and Astrid Juette from the University of Vienna began studying the new class of female pheromones and found that a specific type, called osmopherine, is produced by women during ovulation, when they’re at peak fertility. Once they were able to synthesize that pheromone and produce it in greater concentrations, they were able to show through controlled experiments that osmopherine in high concentrations significantly increased perceived attraction of women by men. In other words, when women applied the pheromone to their skin, men would rate them as much more attractive than without the pheromone’even though the pheromone doesn’t smell very good. In fact, it stinks! Yet men still rated the women wearing it as much more desirable than women who weren’t wearing it.

Juette didn’t stop with that initial research. He wanted to find out what caused the pheromone to work’what caused the men suddenly to become attracted to women wearing osmopherine. Salivary testosterone profiles confirmed that men who are exposed to osmopherine get a spike in testosterone of 150 percent. That’s 2 1/2 times the normal level! Of course, more testosterone means more muscle.

You’ll no doubt be seeing a number of topical products for bodybuilders containing osmopherine. One is Fortis Plus, which comes in a compact roll-on that you apply before you train. It’s a lot easier than trying to find an ovulating woman to train with at every workout. IM

Editor’s note: For more on Fortis Plus, the topical pheromone testosterone booster, see page 10 of the January ’02 IRONMAN.

You can also order Fortis Plus from Home Gym Warehouse.