How Body Odor Can Affect Your Life

Most of us learned at a young age about the importance of proper hygiene. Our parents instilled taking regular baths and showers to keep clean, and by our teenage years, we started using deodorant and cologne to help mask bad scents.

For most, the struggle to combat body odor is a daily one, and some of us are losing the war against bad odor. Unfortunately, body odor can have a negative impact on quality of life. Learn more about the impacts it can have on your life, how to avoid bad odor, and even how to get rid of armpit odor naturally.

How Body Odor Can Affect Your Life

Body Odor Can Make You Stressed Out

If you struggle with body odor, you probably struggle with stress. Once you’re able to smell yourself, you know others can. Even if you can’t, or you’re nose blind to your own odor, you’re always worrying whether others can smell you.

Stressing out over your body odor can lead you to avoid social situations or activities. The stress over body odor can even lead to health issues such as panic attacks or high blood pressure.

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Body Odor Can Impact Your Career

Right or wrong, body odor can give a negative impression of you at work. When someone comes to work smelling bad or has bad breath, it is assumed that they are not taking the necessary steps to take care of themselves. If they are not conscientious enough to prevent body odor, they are perceived to lack the motivation to be a successful employee.

In some highly physical jobs, such as construction, body odor is understood. If you work in an office environment or hold a job where you deal directly with the public, then body odor is unacceptable. It is offensive to your co-workers and to your customers.

Body odor and bad breath can lead to verbal or written reprimands at work, the loss of promotion opportunities, and even the loss of your job.

You May Spend More on Clothing

Body odor doesn’t just get on your skin but clings on to everything you wear. When you come home after a long day of working outside and take a shower, do you put on the same clothes you wore at work? Of course not, because they smell! Notice how some guys wear the same underwear multiple days? If they pass the sniff test, they must be clean.

This results in your clothes wearing out faster, and you’re stuck having to spend more money on your wardrobe. For those of you with persistent body odor, you know the struggle of having to regularly wash your clothes to reduce odor. You may find yourself washing your favorite garments much more often than recommended, or worse; your odor may get so embedded into your clothes that you can’t wash it out.

Body Odor Can Destroy Your Social Life

Think back to someone you’ve been around who had strong body odor or horribly bad breath. Did you want to be around that person or did you want to get away as quickly as possible? That’s the reality for some with strong body odor. We have a natural desire to get away from things that smell bad, and this can make life lonely for those struggling with body odor.

On the basic social level, body odor can make it very difficult for people to make friends. It also makes romantic involvement extremely difficult. You don’t have to smell like an Axe bomb to attract women, but they definitely don’t want you smelling like rotten cabbage. Those who have trouble controlling body odor will find it difficult meeting women and may find it tough to stay in relationships long-term.

What Causes Body Odor?

Sweat is Not The Issue

Most people believe that there is a direct correlation between sweat and body odor, but that’s inaccurate. Sweat does not cause body odor. Rather, it is the bacteria that live on your skin causing the odor. Bacteria breaks down the proteins in your sweat, and the resulting waste is what causes your body odor.

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If you think about it, your armpits and other crevices on your body are perfect breeding grounds for bacteria. They are the areas that are darker, produce the most sweat, and are the least exposed to the elements, including bathing.

Read more about the potential causes of body odor.

How to Combat Body Odor Naturally

We all smell. That’s biology. However, you don’t have to smell bad. By taking the necessary steps to combat body odor, you can reduce stress and improve your general quality of life. If you’re stressing out over how to avoid bad odor, we have a few tips to help you along. There are several ways to get rid of armpit odor naturally and to reduce general body odor.

Foods that Affect Body Odor

For starters, look at your diet and see if there’s something you can change to help reduce body odor.

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Consider reducing or eliminating the following foods which may impact body odor:

• Red Meat – A 2006 paper from Chemical Senses concluded that eating red meat can correlate to strong body odor.
• Coffee – Coffee, and other drinks that contain caffeine, is dehydrating and can make your sweat more intense and acidic. Combine that with the bacteria on your skin, and you get stronger body odor.
• Alcohol – Depending on the amount of alcohol you drink, it is possible that you’ll smell like a bar the next day. Small portions of alcohol can be released through your skin and breath, telling the whole world you’re on the sauce.
• Cruciferous Veggies – Veggies like broccoli and brussels sprouts contain sulfur, and these foods can send this sulfur straight to the bacteria on your skin through sweat. If you had a bit of a rotten egg smell, this might be why.
• Spicy Foods – Ever notice that eating spicy foods can give you garlic breath. It can also give you garlic sweat. If you regularly smell like you stepped out of an Italian kitchen, this may be why.
• Asparagus – If you have urine that smells musty, it is likely caused by eating Asparagus.

Natural Soap for Body Odor

You can also get rid of body odor by practicing proper hygiene with natural soaps and skin care products  Natural soap does not contain the harsh chemicals of other soap and tends to lather better than regular soaps.

What does that mean? That means you get an enhanced bathing experience and you’ll remove more of the bacteria that is causing that strong body odor that’s stressing you out or ruining your life. Other products such as natural cologne will also help to accentuate your natural smell to give a positive impression to others. You’ll smell like a man, not like garlic butter.

Rule Out Any Medical Problems

And finally, while bacteria causes much of the body odor we experience, there are also instances where your body odor may indicate you’re experiencing health problems. All of the following conditions can cause body odor or bad breath:

• Diabetes
• Sinus Infections
• Lung Infections
• Throat Infections
• Kidney Failure
• Liver Disease
• Thyroid Problems
• Gum Disease

If you are having extreme body odor problems, or you’re taking measures to combat it with little success, then it may be a good idea to talk with your doctor to investigate whether your problem is health-related.