I wrote:
>Is there any particular European country known for not using
>deodorants/antiperspirants or not bathing much?

C. ten Broeke wrote:
>The colder a country is, the less people would take a bath. This is
ofcourse before we lived in central heated houses and such.

Ah, I was hoping nobody would say "France." There's a new study out that
suggests basically the French have the lowest obesity rates, vs. the U.S.,
U.K., Australia, and New Zealand.
http://www.harrisinteractive.com/news/newsletters/healthnews/HI_HealthCareNe
ws2002Vol2_Iss06.pdf (see p. 3 of that)

I was hoping it couldn't correlate to body odor. (Well, at least nobody
accuses me of leaving any stones unturned!) Actually, I was thinking of all
the possible reasons the French might have lower body weights (gee, genetics
maybe?) and was momentarily digressing to the issue of lymph flow around the
body (I think antiperspirants are said bad for that? Whatever.) I do recall
ages ago running across some fairly thorough study that suggested a solid
predictor of non-obesity was migration from one place to another (pick a
place, any place). That has spooked me ever since, as with hypothyroid
issues and other weight-won't-budge-no-matter-what-I've-done factors, going
on vacation I typically come back 5-10 lbs. lighter. (So what is it, the
extra protons in air travel?! Maybe I really did come from a
hunter-gatherer-absolutely nomadic background.)

>Nowadays you meet men that have seemingly marinated themselves in
deoderant and aftershave.

Or, you meet their scent, which arrives several feet in front of their
approach. Actually, I've noticed that absent aftershave and that scourge,
spray-on Right Guard, more than a couple males I've dated smell distinctly
like pastrami when they sweat or otherwise exude odor. It's not unpleasant,
but it is definitely like lightly aromatic fresh, high-quality pastrami.
This makes me worry just what my major histocompatibility complex is trying
to tell me...




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