Mary Roach's book, "Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal," delves into the fascinating world of human consumption and digestion. One intriguing study highlighted in the book involved recruiting sensory panelists to analyze the smell of amniotic fluid taken during amniocentesis and breast milk from women who had ingested garlic oil capsules. The findings were significant; panelists unanimously noted that the milk from garlic-eating mothers had a detectable garlic odor.

Interestingly, the study also revealed that infants appeared to be indifferent to this unusual scent. In fact, the researchers from the Monell team observed that babies showed a preference for milk that smelled like garlic, as evidenced by their increased sucking behavior when tasting it. This suggests that garlic odor in breast milk might have stimulating effects, making infants more inclined to feed.