Kim Kardashian recently posted an Instagram thirst trap that had mothers who sit like ladies upset. “Keep your clothes on so your children will be proud of their mother,” wrote one Instagram user. “Learn how to sit like a lady,” wrote another. Surprisingly few took issue with the most ~scandalous~ part of the picture: A suggestive caption advising fans to “Google the benefits of pineapple juice.”
The connection between pineapple juice and tasting good ~down there~ is not a mere myth. Though there is sadly little empirical evidence supporting the pineapple juice/tasty privates correlation, many people swear consuming the tropical fruit will result in sweeter-smelling and tasting genitals.
In the last decade or two, experts have weighed in on whether pineapple does for the vagina/semen what asparagus does for pee. In 2016, Vice spoke to one sexologist Carol Queen who basically said you can expect to get out of your body what you put into it:
“Any kind of intake, whether it’s food, medication, or drink, can affect the flavor of your semen or vaginal fluid…Anything we smell or taste on the body is part of an excretory process… If you can tell a difference in someone’s body odor, then the likelihood is that you can tell about their sexual secretions, as well.”
It’s important to note that pounding a six-pack of Dole pineapple juice right before the act won’t do a thing for your scents. As Austin Urology Institute’s Dr. Koushik Shaw explained to Health.com, “Prostate fluid in ejaculate can be made weeks or months before.” In other words, it takes your body quite some time to change its fluid flavors, whether that body is male or female.
One pineapple-hating woman wrote a YourTango article several years ago in which she and her boyfriend were guinea pigs for the pineapple juice taste test. She wrote that her boyfriend’s spunk did indeed “taste significantly sweeter,” whereas he noticed no difference in her taste or smell. That makes sense. Dr. Queen would say the writer was tasting “the absence of bitter flavor, not necessarily a sweeter flavor.”
So..does it work?
Chemist Anne Marie Helmenstine says yes. Last year, she concluded that though limited, “data finds both male ejaculate and female vaginal secretions are affected by pineapple. Helmenstine explained that form of pineapple does not matter and that “most respondents saw a definite effect after eating pineapple for several days.” This is due to the way “food affects mucus production and composition. Chemicals in foods you eat are found in most secretions, including perspiration and breast milk as well as semen and vaginal fluid.”
To that end, what you eat does affect how you taste—to an extent. There’s no peer-reviewed research on any of this, so much of it comes down to anecdotal tales and journalistic experiments. One of the participants in the aforementioned Vice article experimented with her partner and concluded hydration was the key to everything.
“If she was well hydrated enough,” she wrote, “there was a mildness to her taste that borders on flavorless. When she was dehydrated, I was able to tell a huge difference in the taste, and it seemed to really showcase the foods she’d eaten.”
So if you’re truly concerned about what you got going on down there—and you shouldn’t be—swap out your morning coffee for some pineapple juice. But remember: good hygiene and proper grooming are irreplaceable.