Many of us may not know this, that body odor occurs when sweat comes in contact with bacteria-infected skin. Perspiration or sweating is normal for humans and odorless as well. Because of so many daily activities individuals get involved with daily, sweating may be inevitable. Sweating is an important function of the body, the earlier you learn to live with it the better.
However, people don’t sweat the same. some people sweat in excess while others may not sweat at all. Excessive sweating (perspiration) is known as Hyperhidrosis while no perspiration is known as Anhidrosis.
Factors that influence body odor
Body odor and sweating can be embarrassing, as a result, people try to cover it up by using deodorants and antiperspirants. Nevertheless, how you sweat and the kind of body odor you wear is determined by a number of factors such as lifestyle, gene, race medical condition, medication, job type, and gender.
Click to read more about causes of body odor
Lifestyle Changes that can improve body odor
Body odor is not incurable, so to overcome the disgusting smell, it’s necessary you bring minor changes in your life. Have a daily bath, channel more energy in cleaning the groin and armpit area. Wear natural clothes which will help your skin to breathe, try to avoid foods like meat, onions, garlic, spices, caffeinated drinks, and alcohol. Ban tobacco and smoking as the smell comes not only from your mouth but also your skin.
Click to read more about lifestyle changes that can improve your body smell
Furthermore, if the unpleasant smell keeps coming, after having lifestyle changes, you may want to try these home remedies.
Home Remedies for Body Odor
1. Use a small amount of baking soda and squeeze some lemon on it. Use this mixture for underarms and also the groin area. It proves to be very useful during summertime.
2. Rub potatoes slices on your underarms. See to it that your underarm is clean and dry. Rub it for quite a while and wait till its dry. Apply your regular deodorant on this to make a difference.
3. In a spray bottle put 3 tablespoons of vanilla extract, 1 cup water, and 1 teaspoon rubbing alcohol. Shake this mixture well enough to be sprayed all over your body and clothes.
4. Apply milk of magnesia under your arms with the help of wet cotton, once you had your bath.
5. Apply peanut butter liberally under your arms every night before going to bed. This would help you greatly during the summer season.
6. You can use alcohol, white vinegar or witch hazel as a deodorant for your underarms.
7. Applying apple cider vinegar instead of deodorants helps to fight the odor battle
8. Chewing parsley, alfalfa along with other leafy vegetables helps to control the body odor.
9. Make radish juice from two dozen radishes. Mix it with 1/4 tsp glycerin and use it as a deodorant if put in a spray bottle.
10. Rosemary is an anti-bacterial. Put 8-10 drops of the rosemary oil in 1 ounce of water and apply it on the required areas. Similarly, you can use tea tree oil in the same fashion.
11. Turnip juice minimizes underarm odor for 8-10 hours. Once you have a grated turnip, squeeze it to get 2 tsp juice which should be applied under your arms in 1:1 ratio for each arm.
12. Drink 500 mg of wheatgrass daily on empty stomach and wash it down with a glass of water. This helps in reducing body odor.
You can read more about body odor causes and medical treatments available
Bottomline
Body odor is treatable once you can be consistent in your lifestyle changes and any other treatment option( home remedies or medical treatment) you are comfortable with.
