Body Odor

The Truth About Body Odor

Body odor is a huge social liability.  The usual solution of using an under-arm product doesn’t work well and is costly. Five simple tips can eliminate BO!

Exercise, cardio and working out with weights cause lots of sweat and sweat gives those smell causing bacteria lots of food.  I know the locker room at your gym is gross, but if you just put on your clothes and head back to work/school you are setting yourself up to be a social liability.   Its OK to stink at the gym but at school, work, or out on the town that same stench can make you a social outcast.  We have been brainwashed by TV commercials that the solution to all body odor problems is the application of chemicals.  The application of aluminum based under arm products like anti-persperants and deodorants can help a bit but there are much simpler and more effective solutions to eliminating body odor.  You can’t mask body odor either.  The use of cologne, perfumed soap, after shave, and lotions just makes you a olfactory circus of stench and roses that makes people’s eyes water as you walk past.

Five things you should try before resorting to a deodorant

Not only are deoderants and anti-persperants expensive, messy, and destructive of clothing but the chemicals in them absorb into your bloodstream. Before resorting to chemical means of controlling your body odor, try these five methods of odor control and give them at least two weeks to start working:

  1. Shower at least once daily and always shower after exercising.  Washing the dried sweat off and oil off your body is one of the most effective methods of body odor elimination.  The smell generating bacteria live off that sweat, eliminate their food and the smell goes away. If you exercise multiple times or sweat a lot then take two or three showers a day. Don’t be afraid of showers. If you are concerned about the showers drying your skin then use a moisturizer.
  2. Shave your armpits! Moist, poorly ventilated armpits make a perfect moist home for smell causing bacteria.  A big wad of armpit hair gives the bacteria a huge surface area to breed and generate eye-watering smell.  Get rid of the hair, and the bacteria are homeless.  To a guy, shaving armpits sounds *extremely* painful but its not that bad.  If you want, start by just clipping them with hair clippers and see if that solves the problem.  If not, get out the blade and shave – please see body hair removal.   Guys, women do this all the time so stop your whining :)
  3. Wear only cotton, no artificial fibers.  This makes a HUGE difference!  Many artificial fibers seem to be a perfect breeding ground for smell causing bacteria.
  4. Wear clothes only once.  Once those smell causing bacteria start nesting in your clothes, you gotta wash them out. Anything you have sweat on needs to be washed after one use.
  5. Diet.  Cut out garlic, curry, onions, and cumin.  Many strong spices can be processed by your body and sent out your sweat pores in a unflattering way.  Sound unlikely?  Just try cutting them out for 2 weeks!

Use aluminum based armpit product only as a last resort, its unclear to me if these products actually work or if they make the odor worse.  I strongly recommend you give the above five tips a try for at least 2 weeks before resorting to this one.   Personally I hate putting anything other than moisturizer on my skin.  One big caution, if you shave your armpits then wait till your skin has completely healed before you put *any* product on that skin! Its best to wait at least 48hrs after shaving your armpits before you put anything on the skin there.
OK, here is the tough part to swallow.  If the above doesnt help then you need the help of a friend, a very, very good friend – best if they are one who has complained in the past about your body odor.  Behind closed doors have them use their nose to identify where the odor is coming from.  I know this is gross, but if the above five things dont fix the odor then you gotta know exactly where the smell is coming from before you can go further.  Know your enemy so you can defeat him!