Garlic is awesome. The little papery bulb packs heaps of benefits from making food delicious to curing infections (not to mention its ability to ward of vampires). Unfortunately, it has the ability to ward off others, too: Eating garlic doesn’t always go so well in the smell department.

Or at least that is what we have all been led to believe. Now researchers in the Czech Republic have put the theory to the test and found that for men, not only does it not make them smell worse—it actually makes them smell better.

According to a new study published in international food research journal Appetite, and shared by user dustofoblivion123 in Reddit’s Science community, women actually found the odor to be more pleasant and less intense after male participants were given garlic.

Forty-two men—non-smokers with no reported health issues—participated in the three-phase study and were divided into two groups. In the first phase, group A was given about 2 cloves of crushed fresh garlic (the equivalent of the “recommended daily amount”), spread onto a piece of bread with cheese. Group B had bread with cheese only. In the second phase of the study, the two groups switched what they were given—except this time group B got twice the amount of garlic. The third phase tested the same amount of garlic but in pill-form. Group A was given 12 capsules totaling 12g of fresh garlic, while group B took a placebo.

The guys weren’t allowed to use cologne, deodorant, or shower gel during the sampling day, and were asked not to eat anything that might offset the smell test (onion, chili, pepper, vinegar, blue cheese, cabbage, radish, fermented milk products, marinated fish, and alcoholic beverages). They also had to refrain from working out, having sex, or even sharing a bed with someone.

Once they arrived at the lab and were given their sample, their armpits were washed without soap. Then researchers attached a cotton pad using surgical tape. This pad would stay on for the next 12 hours collecting all the smell it possibly could.

That’s when the women were brought in. In a quiet ventilated room—controlled for temperature and humidity—ladies between the ages of 19 and 36 were tasked with smelling the pads: One from when the man had garlic and one from when he didn’t. A total of 82 women participated and all were on hormonal contraception to “avoid any inconsistencies in olfactory perception.”

Ensuring there were proper breaks in between to reset their smell gauge, the women had to use a seven point scale to rate the armpit-pads for pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity. The pads from the first phase came back with little difference between the garlic-eaters and the abstainers. But for the second phase—where the amount of garlic was doubled—the female participants rated the garlic consumers much higher than the control group.

“As predicted, [the study] then found a significant influence of garlic consumption on axillary odor, although unexpectedly we found that odor collected after consumption of the garlic was rated as more pleasant rather than less pleasant, and less (rather than more) intense. The robustness of these findings was subsequently confirmed in study 3, with the use of garlic capsules instead of raw garlic.”

While the whys behind their findings go beyond the scope of the study, the scientists surmised that it might be due to the health benefits associated with consuming garlic.

“From an evolutionary perspective, formation of preferences for diet-associated body odors was possibly shaped by means of sexual selection. Previous research indicates that many animal species use diet-associated cues to select mates in good physical condition,” the study explains. “As the health benefits of garlic consumption include antioxidant, immunostimulant, cardiovascular, bactericidal, and anti-carcinogenic effects, it is plausible that human odor preferences have been similarly shaped by sexual selection.”

Still, the study was on the small side and the scientists agree that bad breath—a common garlic-consumption hazard—wasn’t taken into consideration. And others have questioned their conclusions based solely on personal experience.

But, at the very least, the researchers have offered a beacon of hope to garlic-loving men everywhere… or a confirmation that the smell of garlic is more appealing to women than the way they smell naturally. Hopefully, though, the science is promising enough to encourage further exploration into this very important matter.