Credits: Social Media
Four delicious foods cause body odor and a ‘musty smell’, dermatologist warns
Would you give up on your favorite food if it made you smell bad? If you don’t know yet, a few popular diet staples can cause body odor.
Summer isn’t officially over, even though restaurants have started to tease their fall menus. As if the unpleasant odor from sweaty armpits wasn’t bad enough, now you’ve got to watch what you eat, too.
Four foods that make you smell bad
Sometimes, you may do everything right to look and smell your best before heading out for a big night, but the body odor still catches up with you sooner or later.
Maybe it’s not what fragrance you wear on your body, it’s what you feed it instead. Dermatologist Dr. Andrea Suarez�lists four popular foods that add to your smelly problem.
Garlic and Onions
Even though the bacteria that live on your body are the main culprit of body odor, certain foods you eat are metabolized into compounds that are excreted in your sweat and influence the overall smell.
Garlic and onions are among the few foods she recommends avoiding to smell better. They are rich in sulfur compounds, which make you smell funky.
Asparagus
Another popular item you may want to think twice before eating – asparagus – has a compound known as methyl mercaptan, responsible for a strong, unpleasant odor.
Dr. Andrea describes the body odor caused by popular vegetables as “musty”, and it stays in your system for a few hours after eating.
Red meat
Yes, you heard it right. Red meat can make you smell “less attractive,” says the dermatologist. A 2006 study in Oxford Academic suggests that the after-effects of eating red meat are true.
It states: “Red meat consumption has a negative impact on perceived body odor hedonicity,” as repeated measures analysis of participants on a nonmeat diet showed that their body odor was “significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense.”
This is because, red meat contains fatty acids, which may strongly influence our sweat to make it smell unpleasant.
Dr. Andrea Suarez is a Denver-based dermatologist with over 12 years of experience. She graduated from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in 2011 and has gained popularity over the years for her content related to all things skincare on social media. She boasts over 500,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.
