Your daily flat white habit could be the reason why you’re getting bad body odour. Yes, seriously.
Body odour occurs when bacteria, found on our skin, comes into contact with sweat. As experts at the Cleveland Clinic explain: “When we sweat, the water, salt and fat mix with this bacteria and can cause odour.”
And certain things we eat and drink can exacerbate this.
Dr Andrew Weil, a medical doctor based in the US, says caffeinated drinks – like tea and coffee – can contribute to body odour (BO) by increasing the activity of our apocrine sweat glands.
And if we’re sweating more, we might be more likely to experience some bad smells as a result.
Other things that could be causing your BO include…
While hormonal changes, certain medications and medical conditions can make your sweat smell bad, Ashleigh Tosh, health and nutrition expert at Prepped Pots, suggests the foods we eat can also have an impact.
“When we sweat, we have bacteria living on our body that essentially eats the sweat and that’s what causes us to smell. The types of foods we eat play a part in the kind of sweat we release,” says Tosh.
Garlic
It’s no surprise that garlic could be worsening the smell of body odour. However, it’s a great vegetable to have in your diet and shouldn’t be removed. Instead, you can neutralise the strength of garlic by adding spinach or mint into your dishes to make the smell less intense.
Red meat
Too much consumption of red meat can also give off an unpleasant body odour. This is to do with how our bodies break down their high level of fatty acids. These make the food hard to digest and when this comes out into sweat it can have an unpleasant smell.
Dairy
When our bodies digest dairy, the food releases a compound called trimethylamine which has a fishy smell when released. If your body can’t digest trimethylamine properly then it may be released through sweat, causing a smell.
Alcohol
Excessive amounts of alcohol can also come through your sweat and even your pores, too. This is the body’s way of cleansing itself from the alcohol.
How to deal with body odour
The NHS has shared a few tips and tricks to keep body odour at bay, these include:
- Using antiperspirants and deodorants
- Changing and washing clothes regularly
- Washing your armpits, groin and feet with soap at least twice a day
- Wearing natural fabrics and/or antibacterial socks.