If your colleagues have been gingerly stepping away from you and people entering your gym are dramatically collapsing or you’ve been gifted deodorants as presents, perhaps it’s time for a quick sniff of the armpits. Body odour can be embarrassing and while you should certainly revisit your hygiene routine, perhaps it is what you’re eating as well.
There are certain chemicals in specific foods which are linked to causing body odour. In short, your food choices may impact your body odour. Scientifically, the body odour depends on the body’s metabolism capabilities. Many factors are responsible for the body’s natural odour which include genetics, body temperature, environmental conditions, and also food. While we might have figured out how to deal with these conditions, food choices can be tricky. We are listing down a few food options that could be a reason behind that unpleasant, unanticipated body odour.
1. Alcohol
Alcohol is metabolised by the liver into acetic acid and some of it is also released through the sweat glands and respiratory system. Alcohol, which causes bad breath, may also be the reason behind bad odour too.
2. Red Meat
The fat content in red meat messes with the chemicals produced in armpits and sweat glands. The bacteria on the skin feed on these fatty acids and end up creating a pungent odour.
3. Seafood
A body odour after consuming seafood may be caused by a metabolic disorder called trimethylaminuria (TMAU). This disorder can cause body odour because the body is not able to break the trimethylamine which is naturally present in seafood.
4. Cruciferous Vegetables
Certain vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel sprouts, mustard plant, kale and a few other leafy vegetables also have sulphur compounds present in them, which affect the body’s odour when secreted from the body in the form of sweat.
5. Spices Like Cumin And Fenugreek
Widely used in the Indian kitchen to add flavour to food, these spices further break down into sulphur compounds. These compounds may stay in your body for hours, which causes the body odour when you sweat.
6. Tomatoes
Compounds like terpenoids (terpene and carotenoids) present in tomatoes can cause an unpleasant body smell. While adding tomatoes can make the meal tasty, you might want to stay away from it if you’re trying to figure out the cause behind the body odour.
7. Garlic
Do you know that garlic not only causes bad breath but also body odour? Allicin, a sulphur compound released from garlic, tends to break down into other substances immediately after consumption. It mixes with the bacteria and gives sweat a pungent odour.
So we now know which foods are to be blamed the next time you face an unanticipated body odour.
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