We all have one of those days on the bus or the elevator, where we had to tolerate some stinky guy’s armpit in our face.
We all know that some persons can generate a stench that can be very unpleasant to the people around him. You may wonder what that stench is.
Body odor is the unpleasant smell that can occur when you sweat and when the sweat is broken into acids by the bacteria. In medical term body odor is known as bromhidrosis.
In our body there are 3-4 million sweat glands and it can be broadly divided into eccrine glands & apocrine glands.
Eccrine glands are responsible for regulating body temperature by cooling the skin with sweat when we get hot.
Apocrine glands develop during puberty and mainly available in armpits & genital area. Apocrine glands release scented chemicals called pheromones.
Eccrine gland’s sweat are generally odorless, however, it can produce stink if bacteria start to break it down.
On the flip side, apocrine glands sweat is mainly liable for body odor which is actually composed of high levels of protein. Hence, bacteria find it easy to break down.
People who have a lot of bacteria on their skin and produce excessive sweat from apocrine glands tend to have body odor.
Why body odor?
The most common reason why people stink is probably some people don’t bathe properly. Good hygiene doesn’t confine to bathing only, it also includes washing clothes, shoes and socks.
Yes, some people may have more bacteria on their skin compared to others but hey, it all comes down to good hygiene eventually.
We live in a stressful world today. There are higher expectations, more hustling, tighter schedules, more work etc.
These create an unnatural anxiety on the body which leads to more perspiration. Eventually, this may make us smell badly.
Our eating habit is also responsible for body odor. If we consume spicy, oil rich foods frequently then its smell will come out through body pores in an unpleasant manner.
Zinc deficiency is also responsible for bad smell as it regulates detoxification level in the body. Zinc controls how the body handles waste.
Sugar imbalance or heavy caffeine consumption can impart body odor.
Certain health complications may also be responsible for body odor. People who smell like nail polish can have diabetes. People with some sort of liver disease smell like ammonia.
Managing body odor
The best way to prevent body odor is to keep groin, armpits and genital areas clean and bacteria free.
It is wise to use soap for everyday bath while paying more attention to the areas that produce most sweat.
Proper washing reduces the number of bacteria on the skin and it also removes accumulated sweat. Washing and altering your clothes regularly will also help in this cause.
Use of antiperspirant or deodorant will help a person to combat with body odor. Antiperspirant reduces the volume of sweat that your body produces and deodorants use perfume to mask the bad smell.
However, you need to be careful about the frequency of using these chemicals because excessive use of such chemicals can be proven harmful for skin in the long run.
Regular shaving of armpits and genital areas is a natural way of preventing body odor.
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