Undoubtedly Cecil is correct about Asians’ sweat glands as he is an Adams (as am I); however, I have a related question. I spent a year in Korea in 1979/80 while I was on active duty in the US Army. I was stationed at a combined Korean/US headquarters that was considered quite a plum assignment for the Korean officers who were stationed there. All the Korean officers and the senior (major and above) Americans took their meals in a Commanding General’s Mess. The point is that both the Koreans and the Americans were well above the poverty level. Nevertheless, the Koreans smelled so heavily of something that it was unpleasant to sit near them at meals. We Americans suspected that it had something to do with their consumption of kimchi, which contains copious quantities of garlic and red peppers. As Koreans, being Asians, have few Apocrine sweat glands, why was their odor so pronounced? Note, these were not uncultured rustics. Nearly all of the Koreans concerned were university graduates and bathed daily. What gives?
JohnNSS
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Do Chinese lack sweat glands in their armpits? Why does spicy food make you sweat? (04-Oct-2002)
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If there really were a difference in odor, I would guess that it would come from the different diets. This page, Do Members of Different Cultures Have Characteristic Body Odors?, suggests that there can be, indeed, characteristic body odors for different cultural groups. It also lists thte title of several relevant references.
I think that diet has meaningful connection to body odor. It is probably true that many Koreans smell of garlic and hot peppers and many Indians smell of curry or similar spices. What is interesting is that I’ve heard people from different backgrounds that many “Americans” smell of sour milk or spoiled meat. Probably due to high dairy and meat content of our diets.
Hope this helps. The smell is from the kimchee, which is sort of the life blood of the Korean. I can easily tell when my haole wife (white person to you all,) has eaten with her Korean stepmother by her smell, which will last about 12 hours after consumption of kimchee. My theory is that the active agent is the garlic though the cabbage and chili add that extra “push.” I can understand how JohnNNS would find the smell unplesant, however, when I was courting my wonderful wife, I found the smell intoxicating.
I remember a scene from “Roots”, which we watched in History class at my grade school: In Africa, a tribal leader is advising the young men how to avoid the slave traders. A white man, he informs them, “smells like a wet chicken.” I can say from personal experience that black people and white people smell different. I’ve read that Milwaukee is one of the most racially segregated cities in the U.S. I didn’t even encounter any African Americans until grade school, and I noticed that they had a distinctive smell. If I had grown up around it, I probably wouldn’t have even been aware of it. The somewhat unsettling implication is that all humans stink; we just don’t notice the odors we’re used to.
I agree that everyone has a smell about them. But all humans don’t stink. Some smell ok, though for some strange reason, people I’m not too fond of tend to smell unpleasant. On the other hand, identifying friend of foe by smell sounds like doggy behavior… arff!