Next time you visit any restaurant (or at home) avoid onion slices. Though it tastes yummy with spicy food, it leaves an unpleasant odor on your body.
Let’s first know the cause of body odor.
In short, our body mainly has two glands which produce sweat. The food you take is broken into small compounds which travel through blood and other parts of the body. When you work, run or come under stress these compounds comes out of your body in form of sweat.
Bacteria present on your body feed on the fats leaving unpleasant smell. (Click here to more about causes of body odor)
Why Onion and Garlic Causes Odor?
The sweat secreted by body contains sodium chloride and is odorless. But when the bacteria comes in contact they feed on the fats and proteins present in sweat leaving odor.
Stinky food like onion and garlic has high amount of sulfuric acid (this is why your eyes burn when you cut onion). This strong oil present in onion mixes with sweat in apocrine glands (one type of sweat gland present in body) resulting in odor.
Not just sweat eating onion will cause foul breathe.
Experts say the odor-causing properties in onion can be cut down by cooking.
How to get rid of body odor?
- Give up eating stinky food.
- Bath regularly.
- Clean your armpits and groins regularly.
- Try deodorants.
- Stress makes apocrine glands secrete sweat, so practice mediation. More tips here.