We Like to Smell Our Hands After a Handshake?

You know how dogs say “what’s up” by sniffing each other’s butts?  We actually do the same thing . . . except no butt sniffing.

A new study out of Israel found a lot of us smell our hands after a handshake.  We don’t do it on purpose . . . and don’t even realize it’s happening.

But the researchers found that after a handshake, we really linger the next time our hand is up near our face . . . we keep it there for twice as long as we normally would, so we can take in a nice, big sniff.

According to the study, quote, “It’s well known that germs can be passed through skin contact in handshakes, but we’ve shown that potential chemical messages can be passed on in the same manner.”

So what are we hoping to smell?  It could be anything from whether the other person’s pheromones are compatible with ours, to whether there’s a hint they’re carrying a disease.