The way we smell isn’t always directly our fault, sometimes it's actually our food’s fault. 

Our body odor is very often an expression of the foods we’re putting into our bodies. It’s completely normal that the foods we eat will affect the way that we smell. Sweating after all, is a part of the digestive process. Especially when we eat heating foods like garlic, cayenne pepper and a plethora of other sweat-triggering ingredients. Let’s investigate a little deeper into the reasons why we sweat, and then explore some of the ingredients that can be making our body odor (and our children’s body odor) that much stinkier. 

Why do we Sweat in the First Place?

So, why do we sweat in the first place? We sweat in order to prevent our bodies from overheating. We also sweat in order to get rid of toxins that have entered our bodies through the air we breathe and the foods we eat. Our sweat is actually odorless. What creates the odor is the bacteria in our clothes, our skin and our bodies. And when we sweat from stress, it’s a different type of sweat than sweating from an activity. Stress sweat can make us smell even worse! So please, don’t stress (it) out! 

Ingredients that May Affect the Way we Smell

We’ve put together a list of foods that may cause body odor. If you are concerned about the way you smell, and are trying to live a more natural lifestyle, away from dangerous chemicals and products, then you may find this list both insightful and useful. 

1. Garlic- Garlic contains an enzyme called alliinase, which is released when garlic is pressed or crushed, producing a sulfur-containing molecule. This sulfur-containing molecule, when digested and circulated through the body, can cause not only stinky body odor, but bad breath too. We know, it’s a hard truth and how it may feel nearly impossible to avoid garlic. But, if you or someone in your family is emitting a really strong body odor, you may want to cut down on the garlic and see how that affects, well, you and everyone around.
   
   
2. Cruciferous Veggies- Cruciferous vegetables include vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage. We don’t recommend cutting out these healthy vegetables from your diet per-say, but to slowly introduce these ingredients into your diet, in small amounts, in order to reduce body odor. These vegetables are high in sulfur-containing substances, which when digested, produce hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide then creates a sour body odor when released through our pores. 
   
   
3. Dairy and Red Meat- It takes our bodies a lot of time and effort to digest red meat. That means, the red meat we consume sit in our stomach and gut for quite some time. As the red meat slowly breaks down in our body it can release toxins, and foul odor in our breath and sweat as it lags behind in our digestive tract. When it comes to dairy, many of us are lactose-intolerant and don’t even realize it. This means our metabolism has a difficult time, or simply isn’t able to digest leucine, isoleucine and valine. This can result in body odor, gas, bloating and diarrhea.
   
   
4.  Spicy foods- curry and cumin are examples of the spices we eat that can make us stink. Their strong and pungent smell while cooking, can stick around in your pores for longer than one may desire.
      
5. Coffee and Alcohol- coffee and alcohol are two habits we might want to consider kicking out of our schedule. As soon as alcohol gets into our bloodstream we start to sweat it out. Why? Because like we mentioned earlier, we sweat because our body is getting rid of toxins. Alcohol and coffee both contain degrees of toxins. Furthermore, alcohol produces acetate in the body which is linked to foul body odor. Coffee however, naturally activates our sweat glands, and is a diuretic, which can lead to dry mouth and foul breath.
    

Takeaway

What goes in must come out. 

The ingredients we eat will directly impact the way we smell. If you’re concerned about your body odor, we recommend avoiding some of the ingredients mentioned above. You’ll especially want to avoid the mentioned ingredients on hot and humid days, or before playing sports or exercising. Limiting the consumption of these ingredients will, in all likelihood, affect one’s body odor, adult and children alike. If eliminating any of the ingredients mentioned above just seems completely impossible, then we recommend reducing the consumption and finding healthy and delicious alternatives. 

Have you recently changed your diet to live a healthier and more natural life? How has that affected the way you smell and feel about your smell?