Home : Tips : What Causes Body Odor And How To Prevent It

What Causes Body Odor and How to Prevent it

What Causes Body Odor and How to Prevent it

Smelling bad can be embarrassing, and you’ll put the people around you in an awkward position. While mild body odor is something all of us experience, constant body odor, and too much of it, is not a good thing.

What are the causes of body odor?
While not having a bath regularly is one of the most basic reasons, there are a few other underlying causes that might contribute to the bad odor as well.

Excess consumption of spicy foods
Been indulging in too much spicy food? Your extra spicy street food and dishes could be one of the causal factors of body odor. You are what you eat. While this is an arguable statement, it does have a grain of truth to it. The spice you eat, when broken down, causes your body to release gases that contain sulfur. These sulfur gases are released through the pores of your skin, the smell of body odor.

Does that mean you should stop eating spice? Not at all. Just lower the intake of spice, drink plenty of water through the day especially after a spicy meal, and avoid spicy foods the day before a party or date. A hot shower and deodorant can help too.

Excess alcohol consumption
When you drink alcohol, it goes into your bloodstream and comes out through your urine, as well as your sweat. Your body considers alcohol to be a toxin. Due to this, it looks for ways to eliminate the alcohol, so while you do urinate a lot while you drink, your body tries to expel the alcohol through your sweat and breath too.

You must drink a lot of water to flush out the alcohol. Also, when you drink next time, drink at a slow pace, or have non-alcoholic drinks in between your alcoholic ones.

High stress levels
When you’re stressed, you sweat, and the sweat that is released when you’re stressed is one of the smelliest. It comes from the apocrine glands, and while it is odorless at first, it starts to smell bad as soon as it mixes with the bacteria on your body. The result? A pungent odor from your skin. Also known as stress sweat, it isn’t like the other types of sweat. For example, after exercise, you sweat out water and electrolytes—they don’t smell half as bad as sweat due to stress.

Not washing your clothes
This one is a no-brainer. You can’t wear dirty clothes and not expect to smell bad. You need to make sure you wash your clothes regularly, especially your inner wear. A lot of people don’t bother changing their underwear as well, and this shouldn’t be the case. Your clothes and underwear are in close contact with your body. Make a habit of changing and washing them often.

Symptom of diabetes
Diabetes, especially if left untreated, can pave the way for a condition called as diabetic ketoacidosis. Here, there is a buildup of ketones, because the body breaks down fat to use as fuel, due to the lack of insulin. This buildup of ketones can lead to bad body odor.

How to stop body odor?
You know the causes, so now you’re probably wondering how to stop body odor.

  • Change your diet. What you eat plays a major role in how you smell. Incorporate a lot of fruits and vegetables. However, avoid eating a lot of onions, garlic, and broccoli. Avoid foods that have too much spice as well as fats.
  • Wear clothes that are made from breathable fabrics. Make sure your underwear is made from cotton or other fabrics that absorb sweat. Also, make sure you wash your clothes after use. Don’t repeat your clothes without washing them.
  • Shaving your underarms can help. Since bacteria and fungi thrive in warm and moist conditions, your underarms make for an excellent breeding ground for these bacteria and fungi.
  • Apple cider vinegar can help to stop body odor by preventing the growth of bacteria and fungi. You can apply apple cider vinegar directly to your underarms before a bath for about 30 minutes before rinsing it off, or add a few drops of apple cider vinegar to your bathtub and soak in it for a few minutes.
  • Lime juice has the same effect as apple cider vinegar, and lime has a great fragrance, so you’ll smell good too. The acid in the lime juice can inhibit the growth of fungi and bacteria, and help the bad odor that they cause.
  • If you feel like you’re too stressed, work on methods that will help you de-stress. Get out for the weekend, indulge in some fun activities or try some yoga. Stress can cause body odor, and de-stressing can help to stop body odor.
  • Take a bath, regularly. This is perhaps the most obvious way to stop body odor. Ask your doctor for an antibacterial or antiperspirant soap or body wash. Also, stack up on skin-friendly deodorants.

Suffering from body odor can be frustrating. By trying to make the above changes you’ll see a noticeable difference.

Popular Reads

You Will Not Believe This Common Condition Is One of the Brain Tumor Symptoms

You Will Not Believe This Common Condition Is One of the Brain Tumor Symptoms

You know about headaches and seizures, but did you know that this common condition is one of the brain tumor symptoms you ought to watch out for? Brain tumors manifest in symptoms for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, the brain is a very compact organ, and there is little to no space to accommodate the growth of other tissue inside the brain. Secondly, depending on exactly where they are growing inside the brain, these tumors push against and impose pressure on certain parts, and cause varying symptoms. Perhaps, the most common early warning symptom of brain tumors is a headache . Headaches may be severe to start off with, or may have a tendency to worsen early in the morning or after any activity. The second most commonly reported symptom of brain tumors is seizures or fits. Also known as convulsion, motor seizures are characterized by sudden involuntary movements of the muscles in a person’s body. Depending on the area that the tumor is pushing against, you may experience different types of seizures. The most common ones are myoclonic and tonic-clonic or Grand Mal seizures. Less common brain tumor symptoms include changes in sensory perceptions without being unconscious, personality/memory changes, nausea and vomiting and fatigue .
Everything You Need to Know About Haemophilia in Children

Everything You Need to Know About Haemophilia in Children

Get all your questions pertaining to haemophilia in children answered here. A first aid kit is your best friend as a parent. Children seem to know just how to walk in an unbalanced gait and topple over without any external help. The result is an extraordinary number of bumps and bruises that need more than a mother’s kiss to make better. While bruises and scrapes are a normal part of childhood, haemophilia children need extra care. A bruise or cut would heal and scab over for others, but for haemophilia children, even the smallest cuts are a cause of concern. If you are a parent with haemophilia children or would just like to know more about the condition to help your loved ones handle it better, here are the answer to the most common questions when it comes to haemophilia in children. What is Haemophilia? When you get a cut, there are clotting agents in your blood that act quickly to curb the bleeding. However, for haemophilia children, the disease actively stops blood from clotting properly. The result is an excessive loss of blood, which can be very dangerous to the health of haemophilia children. This genetic disorder tends to affect more boys than girls.
Do You Suffer from These Bladder Control Problems in Women?

Do You Suffer from These Bladder Control Problems in Women?

Do not just live with urinary incontinence – learn what causes it so you can improve bladder control problems in women. If you think that urinary incontinence is a problem that only older women and men deal with, think again. Bladder control problems in women are common, and they affect women of all age groups. Sometimes, there is a clear starting point for bladder control problems in women. You may have just delivered a baby, and are getting back to your active lifestyle, when you suffer through an “accident”. Owing to how embarrassing bladder control problems in women can be, a lot of women never seek help for this treatable condition. Regardless of age, many across the globe are living with bladder control problems in women, and shrouding the condition in secrecy. However, the truth is that more than 13 million people in the United States have incontinence issues. Bladder control problems in women are twice as likely as men. According to the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, 30 percent of young women suffer incontinence. The rates of bladder control problems in women increase with age, with 40 percent of middle-aged women, and 50 percent of older women suffering from urinary incontinence.