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If you’re a fan of Sex and the City, you’ve probably found yourself wondering if what you eat really affects how you taste to your partner during oral. It was in one of the many iconic episodes that Samantha went to great lengths to help the “spunk” of her partner taste less, well, “funky,” as she called it. One such attempt was to make him drink wheatgrass before having sex in the hopes of remedying the issue — no such luck. Funky Spunk remained Funky Spunk.
Although the vagina is supposed to taste and smell like a vagina and semen isn’t exactly a trip to Baskin Robbins, as Samantha pointed out, taste and smell can vary. Not just from person to person, but even in the same person. Whether it be because someone's in a certain phase of their menstrual cycle, or because of something like an untreated STI, there's no one smell or taste for bodily fluids. But as for food affecting how you taste? Well, the jury is still out.
“We do not currently have evidence-based medicine with strong research or long term data to support or disprove what you eat does, or doesn’t, influence the way you taste,” Dr. Sheila Loanzon, board certified OB-GYN and author of Yes, I Have Herpes, tells Bustle.
But while that may be the case — a whopping IDK from the science community — there are still some things to consider if this question has been on your mind.
Theoretically, Food Can Affect Your Body’s Taste And Odor
The way our body works, in the simplest of terms, is whatever we put in, comes out — in one way or another. Based on this, you or your partner could, possibly, taste different based on something either of you have eaten. To suggest such a thing, isn’t exactly out of left field.
“Theoretically what you eat could reflect in your bodily fluids,” Dr. Loanzon says. “Similar to asparagus when broken down releases the distinct smell in urine.”
If asparagus has that sort of effect on urine, could it possibly also have that sort of effect on vaginal fluids or semen? Basic math suggests yes, but science isn't sticking to the theory just yet.
If It Did Affect Taste, It Would Be Purely Anecdotal
According to Dr. Loanzon, not only would it be anecdotal, but speculation too, to assume your partner’s genital fluids taste a certain way because of something they ate.
“Men and women have different sets of taste buds and some flavor profiles may be more appealing to some than others,” Dr. Loanzon says. “And in the setting of erotic, what may be dismissible normally may be highly attractive in the setting of sex.”
Which makes sense. The more aroused we are, the less grossed out we are — even by things that normally have has recoiling and screaming, "yuck."
So, Just Eat The Stinky Food Anyway
“[For example], garlic rich meals seeping through your skin the next day, breast milk that may seem different after certain foods or alcohol, or alcohol odor released while sweating at the gym the next day,” Dr. Loanzon says, are example of foods affecting how we smell or taste.
In other words it does happen, but to confirm that it's happening below the belt, we can't say.
Because It Could Simply Be Smell Affecting What You Taste
"It is commonly stated in the food world that smell can influence flavor," Dr. Loanzon says. "In women, it is important to note that there can be a distinct odor to the vaginal area which does not necessarily indicate a vaginal infection is present (despite what your partner may tell you while giving oral!) See your health care provider to debunk that assumption because the vagina does not always smell like roses — and don’t try to make it smell like one!"
If it did smell like a rose, it might taste like a rose and that's just a damn flower. And not even the edible yummy kind they put on fancy cakes.
But either way, the point is what you're smelling could have your brain interpreting a taste that doesn't exist. For example, if you had asparagus and your urine is... pungent because of it, that smell could make your partner taste something that doesn't exist.
Conclusion? We can't get a definite yea or nay on the subject and maybe that's a good thing. Sometimes when we have something in our head, like something is going to taste or smell a certain way because of XYZ, we then taste or smell it that way. Which, in some cases, isn't a good thing. Ideally, it's best to just go into giving or receiving oral with an open mind and not worry about the small stuff. It's more enjoyable that way.
