Smelly "NO" More

Body odour is never pleasant. We have all experienced our fair share of bad body odour, be it on the train, on the bus or even while playing sports. It is the distinctive smell of stale sweat. If sweat is deemed to be odourless, then why does a person suffer from unpleasant body odour?

Body odour is not caused by sweat itself but by the bacteria that live on the surface of the skin. How does the bacteria cause body odour that we try ever so desperately to avoid, you may ask. Well, when a person sweats, the bacteria breaks down the sweat into aromatic fatty acids that produces the unpleasant smell that we pick up.

But how come only certain areas of the body such as the armpits and the genitals produce these bad smells? and not the other parts? This is because these glands produce proteins and oily substances that bacteria love to feed on wherelse sweat produced in the other parts of the body is mostly salty water which bacteria dont thrive on.
Body odour can also be related to certain medical conditions such as the thyroid disease which promotes excessive sweating. Dr Trisha Macnair 05 exclaimed that body odour can also be influenced by the daily diet that we practice. Foods like curry, garlic and spices may be excreted on the surface of the skin.

Now that we know what causes the 'deadly' body odour, we can find ways and means to combat it. One of the ways is the use of the deodrant or an anti-perspirant. The deodrant maks the smell of sweat with fragrance while anti-perspirant reduces the amount of sweat produced by the body. Taking regular showers can also help reduce B.O. Another trick to avoid B .O is to shave the hairs of the armpit off. Why? Because, armpit hair provides a greater surface area for sweat to collect. This is a perfect environmeant for the bacteria to breed. Lastly, do not wear clothes that have already been worn. Alhtough, you may be clean, the worn clothes arent as yesterdays sweat is still retained.

There are also a few home remedies that can be done to get rid of body odour. Here are a few steps:

1. Drink a glass of water in the morning on an empty stomacha along with some wheat grass. The chlorophyll in the wheat grass reduces body odour.

2.Put a few drops of rose water in the water before taking a shower. It will give you a long lasting freshness and can be a good substitute for a deodrant.

3.You can aslo apply baking soda to the armpits as well as the feet ro reduce the smell.

4. While bathing, add alcoholor white vinegar to a mug of water and use that to rinse the armpits. This will in evitably reduce the odour.