Here is what your Body Odor Shows about your Health

The breaking down of sweat into acids, when combined with the bacteria on the skin, causes certain types of unpleasant smells. If your body smells in a certain way, it’s crucial to pinpoint the exact cause of that smell, especially as body odor could be directly linked to certain health conditions such as liver issues, diabetes, or just having a wrong diet.

We’ve collected a vast amount of information in order to help you find out if whether a certain body odor could be tied with a dangerous condition. Below are some of the most common body odors one can experience today, together with some of their causes and potential treatments, BE CAREFUL WITH NUMBER 6.

1. You Sweat too Much or Smell Sweaty

If that’s you, it is imperative to undergo excessive perspiration treatment. The condition you might have to face is excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis. While hyperhidrosis can be caused by underlying conditions such as endocrine, neurologic or infectious diseases, it may also occur in people who seemingly are healthy. Emotions or heat can trigger excessive sweating, especially in sensitive areas such as armpits, feet or the groin. The cure for hyperhidrosis include taking robinul hyperhidrosis, an oral anticholinergic medicine widely used to treat excessive sweating.

2. You Smell Like Alcohol

This body odor is a clear sign that you’ve probably had one too many glasses of alcohol lately. Scientists proved that the human body perceives alcohol as a toxin, so it tries to break it into acetic acid. While the body can successfully metabolize 90% of alcohol in this manner, some of it is also excreted through urine or even through sweat. After a big party, the smell of alcohol is quite common in most people.

3. You Smell of Rotten Eggs

This nasty smell might have an awkward cause: you are probably eating too much meat. We all know that meat is very hard to digest. Thus, people who eat too much meat, have a hard time digesting it, which results in a repulsive sulfuric odor. This is caused by the high amount of sulfur that is contained by the amino acids in the meat. While these amino acids are not threatening your body at all, it’s important to eat less meat so it can digest properly.

4. You Smell Sweet

Unfortunately, this might be a clear sign of diabetes. A fruity or sweet body odor is usually the result of high levels of ketones in the bloodstream. If your urine smells sweet too, you might also be facing the Maple syrup urine disease, a metabolic condition that makes the body unable to break down basic amino acids such as leucine, valine or isoleucine.

5. You Smell Bitter

This usually implies that you have a problem with your liver. A sluggish liver can produce a vast range of chemicals that have a peculiar smell. To top it all, a damaged liver could come with nausea, digestive problems or lack of food cravings. If you smell either sweet or bitter, you need to pay a visit to your doctor ASAP.

6. Your Body has a Fecal Smell

This is usually the result of bowel obstruction. This is a medical condition that could prove to be quite dangerous, especially as it includes a blockage in the intestines. A blockage in the intestine tract causes your breath and sweat to smell bad. Anything you eat could only aggravate this issue. Additionally, armpits and other areas that sweat regularly could produce this fecal smell.

7. Your Body Smells Fishy

Lastly, if your body and your urine smell of rotting fish, you might have an uncommon condition called the “Fish Odor Syndrome”. This condition is the direct result of excessive excretion of trimethylaminuria (TMA). Unfortunately, doctors agreed that this is a genetic disease. The treatment includes specific medication, coupled with excessive perspiration treatment and certain antibiotics or acid lotions.