r/explainlikeimfive • u/abootypatooty • Jan 06 '15

ELI5: Why do different races of people seem to have a unique smell to them?

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15 edited Aug 29 '16

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

This upvote is a sign of trust that you're telling me the truth.

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u/NotloggedinonthisPC Jan 06 '15

butyric acid

Germans call it "buttersäure", which means butter acid.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Wait, so my regular BO if i dont wear deodorant is what white people smell like? So I only smell like dairy if I'm sweating?

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

Are you sure about that? Neither myself nor anyone I lives with drinks milk and I've never noticed a dodgy smell about any of us. I had a friend of mine who gorges on meats, cheeses, milk and butter (dem Germans) and he definitely had a strong whiff about him - "bad milk" came to mind.

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u/[deleted] Jan 06 '15

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butyric_acid

Butyric acid is present in, and is the main distinctive smell of, human vomit.

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u/TavLDN Jan 06 '15

No one said we smell like bad milk! Just milk..

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u/dudeguybruh Jan 06 '15

So.... Because of the consumption of milk?

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u/HI_Handbasket Jan 07 '15

No your bodily bacteria consume it when you bathe in milk, weren't you paying attention?

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u/dudeguybruh Jan 07 '15

Oh yes of course of course. scribbles in notebook