Perhaps, you already have an idea that each individual has its own unique scent. The same goes with body odor, which may serve just like your fingerprints and DNA, but that’s not all you should know about this subject. Just consider the following:
Body Smell = Love Connection
It’s true! It’s just the same with how animals find their mates. Smell plays an important role here, which researchers find as one of the many key characteristics contributing to mate selection in humans. A good proof of which is the study where women were asked to rate the smell of T-shirts worn by their male peers for 2 days. The higher rate should be given to smells the participants find as most attractive. To conclude, the women gave higher ratings to T-shirts with body odor that were chemically different from theirs.
So, yes, smell does play an important role in finding the most suitable partner for you. However, it does not mean that you have to depend on your sense of smell to find your perfect match. After all, your sense of smell is not as sensitive as with animals and although it’s possible, humans are not brought up to choose their mates based on that.
Anxiety and Body Odor
Have you ever noticed your body odor changing the more anxious you feel? Some may agree to this, because anxiety does have a significant connection to the way your body odor changes during a more anxious situation. In fact, body odor is a secondary effect of anxiety. It changes the manner through which the body handles bacteria and odor, thus affecting how you smell.
Several factors contribute to how anxiety changes your body smell. First, there’s the sweating. The more anxious you are, the more you sweat; hence, triggering more body odor. Unfortunately, this becomes the case even if you are no longer sweating. Why? That is because your sweat has already created an environment where overgrowth of bacteria occurs. Hence, even if you are only sweating a little, this will already trigger the growth of bacteria, which is what causes the odor.
The Foods You Eat Contribute to Your Body Odor
Your diet is another factor that may have an effect on your body smell in connection to anxiety. Although this remains a theory, many believe that what you eat as well as how they are digested may have an effect on how you smell. Examples of foods that may be causing bad odor are chewy candies.
Yes! So, if you love eating chewy treats, chances are your body will begin to produce that intense odor. Such effect has something to do with the bacteria’s likeness to sweet foods, increasing acidity once the yeast grows and sugar converts into alcohol. Other favorite or common foods you never knew can cause bad odor are packaged foods, dairy, spices and even eggs!
The Reason Behind That Old-People Smell
Some notice that older people have that certain smell. Now, you will know the reason behind that, which is due to a chemical compound they call as 2-nonenal. It is a compound created through the oxidative breakdown of other chemicals through which, that unpleasant, grassy odor is produced. Simply said, the level of this compound in people increases as they age, making that certain smell more distinct as you get older.
Over-cleansing Does Not Help at All
Naturally, you’ll want to clean and scrub yourself if you know that you smell to eradicate that bad odor. That’s fine, but be careful not to overdo it. Some people get tempted to even rub alcohol on BO hot spots because they think that it will help. However, the truth is it will only make your skin dry and trigger the body to produce more sweat. Hence, just be satisfied with using antibacterial soap and scrubbing.
With these facts, you will know to pick the right information to guide you. But, of course, you should not rely with just these facts. Visit a dermatologist if you know your case requires professional help.