Natural Remedies for Body Odor

For 99.9 percent of people, however, body odor is a simple matter of bacteria decay of compounds in sweat. Most people in North America deal with body odor by washing and applying deodorant. Here are some suggestions for taking care of this aspect of personal hygiene with a minimum of chemicals and at a minimal expense:

1. Wash intimate areas of your body with soap. Washing with water alone helps, but soap dissolves the oils released by the apocrine glands that can decay and emit particularly strong body odors. A deodorant soap or antiseptic soap is not necessary unless you have very strong, very persistent body odor due to a very high concentration of bacteria.⁴

2. Wash your clothes after one wearing. Bacteria living in the sweat from both accrine and epocrine glands can penetrate the fibers of your clothes and cause them to wear and decay. If you sweat a lot, wear cotton or linen to increase air circulation that dries your skin and slows the growth of bacteria.

3. Try a deodorant, which kills bacteria waiting to feed on sweat and replaces body odor with a more acceptable scent, or an antiperspirant, which stops sweat from ever occurring. If you are sensitive to deodorants and antiperspirants, baking soda may also help. Talcum powder is associated with ovarian cysts and ovarian cancer, so women should avoid it.

4. Be careful with your diet. Hot peppers trigger a perspiration reflex that makes the eater feel cooler (at least around the eyes and ears, if not on the tongue) after eating them. These odor-producing areas of the body are not treated with deodorants and antiperspirants, and can produce body odor when there is excessive consumption of chiles. Onions, garlic, beer, and spices also produce odor-causing substances that can be eliminated from your body through your skin.

5. As much as possible, relax. Excitement, anger, and anxiety increase perspiration, which in turn provides more food for the bacteria living on the surface of the skin.

6. For foot odor, consider tea tree oil. This Australian herbal preparation kills the bacteria that cause foot odor and athlete's foot. Be sure to dry between the toes after showering or taking a bath, and allow shoes to air out at least overnight between uses. Wear absorbent socks and change them frequently, and try to buy shoes that "breathe."

The other everyday source of body odor is halitosis. When bad breath seems to develop overnight and it cannot be traced to eating garlic, onions, pungent spices, or stinky cheese, the underlying cause may be bacterial. Sugar feeds the bacteria that cause halitosis. Avoid sugary foods, or if you must eat them, rinse your mouth after eating and brush your teeth as soon as possible. When halitosis is associated with the use of chewing tobacco or smoking, chewing chlorophyll (green) gums will help mask the offending chemicals.

Kitchen remedies for body odor abound. A splash of vinegar on the most highly odorous areas of the body (be careful to avoid applying vinegar to broken or inflamed skin) can lower pH so that bacteria cannot multiply. Essential oils of rosemary and/or sage can be mixed a cup (240 ml) of water to 10 drops (1-2 ml) of oil and then applied topically to odor-plagued feet. Drinking 2 cups (approximately 500 ml) of wheatgrass juice every day provides enough chlorophyll to result in drastic reduction of body odor associated with digestive disturbances.

Taking care of body odor can keep you from announcing your presence to people near and far. It can increase your self-confidence around the opposite sex. By following these simple suggestions, you can breathe in the sweet smell of success eliminating the odors of bromhidrosis and halitosis.