Foods That Can Cause Body Odor

My grandmother, who was born in 1892, used to express puzzlement about deodorants, which weren't really commonly used in the United States until about 1960. "How will we able to recognize people by their smell," she asked when deodorants first started appearing at the market, "if they all use deodorant?"

Body odor hasn't always been considered to be a bad thing. However, in the modern era, most of us would prefer that our aromas not be the one thing that people remember about us. Everyone has a characteristic, although often undetectable, odor signature, in which overall health, age, genetics, and personal hygiene all play a part.

1. Cabbage Family Vegetables.

All of the crucifers, the cabbage family vegetables, including, of course, cabbage, broccoli, turnips, kohlrabi, mizuna, mustard greens, and kale, contain cancer-protective sulfur compounds known as isothiocyanates. These compounds that reduce the risk of certain kinds of cancer are also the chemicals that stink up the kitchen when you cook cabbage and related veggies, and in some diners that can cause a sewer gas smell that emanates from the skin.

One way to avoid smelling like cabbage is simply not to eat cabbage. However, the way your liver processes isothiocyanates also plays a part in generating body odor. Avoid eating these plant foods any time you have been working in the garden with "organic" pesticides can reduce their impact on body odor. The liver uses the same enzyme to process the stinky sulfur compounds as it uses to detoxify the pesticide that has entered the bloodstream.

2. Red Meat

In the early 1900's, my grandmother opined, women could tell how financially successful a man was by his body odor. Men who earned enough money to have steak on a regular basis had a "meaty" smell that the women to whom they were suitors found attractive. 

My grandmother and her girlfriends, it turns out, didn't just dream up the idea that red meat affects body odor. An article published in the scientific journal Chemical Senses in 2006 reported that women could detect a difference in body odor — which they regarded favorably — in men who had abstained from read meat for two weeks.

See Also: How to Stop Excessive Sweating Odor?

3. Alcohol

When you take a drink, your liver (usually) converts the alcohol in the beverage into acetic acid, the same acid found in vinegar. Not everyone, however, has enough of the liver enzyme that converts alcohol into acetic acid to cover two drinks, three drinks, or more, so their bodies expel alcohol through the breath and through the skin, often carrying some of the compounds that give the alcoholic beverage its characteristic taste. People who lack this enzyme may readily smell like beer, or daiquiris, or dry wine, depending on their beverage of choice. Hard liquor is harder for the liver to process but causes less body odor, but this is not a justification for drinking more high-proof alcoholic beverages.

More Foods That Can Cause Body Odor

4. Spicy Baby Syndrome

Have you ever picked up a newborn and noticed some odor that wasn't poop or pee or burp, but somehow oddly pleasant and unpleasant at the same time? Newborns and breastfed babies can pick up odors from their mother's diets, especially from the spices cumin, coriander, and fenugreek, the latter herb often used to stimulate lactation. There's nothing to be done to stop your baby from smelling like curry powder but to wait for the odor to wear off, that is, for the baby's liver to develop the enzymes that break down the odor-causing compounds. But chances are that your bundle of joy will also generate many other smells to cancel out those from mother's diet. Garlic, mint, and vanilla scents can also be passed from mother to child. Later in life, an adult will remember these scents and associate them with mother on an unconscious level.

5. Asparagus

When asparagus causes body odor, there's a problem with incomplete urination or urinary incontinence. However, this delectable spring vegetable famously causes green, stinky urine, with an an aroma that some people compare to rotten cabbage smell. Asparagus odor is caused by the metabolism of asparagusic acid in sulfur compounds removed from the body by the kidneys into the urine stream. Not everyone can smell these compounds. For some of us, urine after eating asparagus carries no detectable scent at all. However, if the smell is a problem for you, there is an easy solution. Simply drink more water. You will increase the volume of urine your kidneyes release and dilute any odor caused by the digestion of asparagus.

6. Fish, Especially Frozen Fish

We usually think of freezing as stopping spoilage, but the fact is, bacteria continue to grow even in the freezer, just very, very slowly. In certain kinds of frozen fish, bacteria can release compounds with descriptive names that describe their associated odors, such as spermidine, putrescine, and cadaverine. Oddly enough, many people actually prefer the taste of fish that contains these chemicals (most Americans don't like truly fresh shrimp, for example, and much of the world enjoys fish sauce), but when large amounts of these sulfurous chemicals of putrefaction flood the digestive tract, the liver is not able to detoxify them. The chemicals are eliminated through breath and sweat and give the eater a very easily recognizable fishy smell.

If you don't want to smell like you work at a cod liver processing plant, be sure to eat very fresh fish. Avoid fish that are caught in tropical waters, where many boats lack proper refrigeration to bring their catch to port.

7. Junk Foods

Junk foods contribute to body odor, but not in the way that you might think. Sure, many afficionados of Cheetos, Doritos, and candy bars also partake in inhaled herbs, but the main problem with eating a lot of junk food, at least in terms of body odor, is getting less cholorophyll. This chemical that makes green plants green also deodorizes foods as they are digested. Just a little raw green foods added to the diet can make a big difference in body smell.

See Also: Essential Facts on How to Stop Sweating

If you don't think any of this information applies to you, here's a word of caution. People who take statin drugs to lower cholesterol or who follow low-fat diets tend also to lose their sense of smell for food odors. It's as if any food, or odor of food, becomes acceptable when you are chronically hungry. If you are going low-fat or taking statins, be aware of subtle cues people around you may give you that body odor is an issue.