How To Prevent Body Odor

Body odour is totally natural and nothing to be ashamed of. But let’s be real, no one wants to be the person who realizes they smell 10 minutes into the work day. In the summer, it seems almost too easy to wear the wrong top or forget to put on deodorant and then find yourself sitting at your desk realizing you don’t smell the best.

Ever wondered what body odor is exactly? We’ve got the answer for you; it’s the perceived unpleasant smell our bodies can give off when bacteria that live on the skin break down sweat into acids and these smells contain powerful clues about our body’s health.

So if you’re thinking, ‘Please! Someone! Give me some body odour control tips!’ well, we’ve got your back. Here are our 3 best tips for fighting body odour.

Tip #1 - Go for Natural Deodorants

To start, we want to clear something up for good...the difference between deodorant and antiperspirant is that; deodorant controls body odour while antiperspirant cuts down on the amount you sweat. So, deodorant = odour and antiperspirant = sweat. Whilst deodorants and antiperspirants can both help in tackling B.O, beware of the harmful chemicals that can be hiding like; aluminium compounds. These aluminium compounds have been linked to the development of breast cancer, prostate cancer and an increased risk of Alzheimer’s. Yikes. Here at NUMI we are very passionate about women’s health so we like to go for an all-natural deodorant that doesn’t contain any aluminium or harmful toxins. A great place to check up on toxic, unhealthy ingredients is the ‘Environmental Working Group's cosmetic database.

Check out our graphic for more chemicals to avoid in your deodorants.

What deoderants make you smell?

Tip #2 - Wear Breathable Clothing

Did you know that your choice of outfit could be responsible for smelling ? Often, we unknowingly self-sabotage ourselves by wearing shirts that don’t breathe and actually hold onto our sweat. It’s tempting to do, especially when your outfit looks so good. Sadly, clothes that don’t breathe lock in body odour which causes the clothes and ourselves, to stink! Our trick: wear natural fibers. They are breathable and won’t retain odour, unlike synthetic fibers.

P.S did you know that NUMI undershirts are made with TENCEL®; a supersoft and breathable fabric that is regenerated from ethically sourced eucalyptus trees!?

What clothes prevent body odor?

Tip #3 - Cut down on these body odour inducing foods

Yes, you read that right. We are now telling you that some of your favourite foods are making you smell, sorry! It’s true, foods are another culprit in the fight against B.O. The type of food you eat can alter your body odour to smell worse. Food affects body odour because food byproducts are secreted as our bodies break down the food and then the byproducts react with the bacteria on our skin. Some research-backed foods that are known to cause odour for most people: red meat, alcohol, garlic, onions, cruciferous vegetables and asparagus. Now obviously we aren’t suggesting that you eliminate certain foods because it could make you smell, we’re just providing you with the information to arm yourself against the culprits of bad odour. Keep drinking that wine if you so please! If there’s a special occasion coming up where you’d want to be as smell-free as possible, then staying away from these foods a few days beforehand will only help you.

What foods make you smell?
----

References