Ooh, that smell. Is it you? Is it me? Let's talk about body odor because this is a topic that is easy to get confused about with regards to your shower routine. Especially, I know, I know, who would have thought, especially if you are following advice on TikTok because you're going to come across these over-the-top hygiene routines with like three different body washes, a body scrub, a scented body oil, a scented body lotion, and all of that perfume, all of those perfumed products. They may bring you happiness. They don't actually address in all honesty the underlying root causes of body odor. So let's break it down. Number one is sweat. In order to address body odor, you have to really focus your efforts on sweat control. Now sweat is a beautiful thing because it is produced to cool our body. It's largely water and some salt. And when you put it out onto your skin, it evaporates and helps keep you cool. But unfortunately, when we produce a lot of sweat and it stays behind on our skin, a is very irritating to the skin barrier and b the bacteria on our skin break that down and produce these odorcausing compounds, especially in the skin folds under your arms in particular, you have a ton of sweat glands. Likewise on your feet as well. When it comes to addressing odor, you can use every single Soul de Janeiro product out there and you can still smell like funk plus Soul de Janeiro. When it comes to addressing sweat production, antipersperent is what you want to focus on. A lot of people are intrigued by deodorant, but it's only anti-persperent, not deodorant. And mind you, there are products marketed as antipersperent deodorants that are kind of a a two for, but antipersperants with aluminum salts, which are very safe. Aluminum salts are what actually will help to reduce sweat production. And a lot of people don't understand that aluminum salt antipersperins, they work best when applied at night time. So if you apply them during the day, you may not get be getting optimal sweat reduction efficacy from your antipersperin. Now admittedly, aluminum salt antipersperants, they can be particularly irritating for people. Uh that is one of their downsides. There are alternatives for sweat control. However, make sure you're putting it on at nighttime. They tend to be a lot more likely to cause irritation during the day because you end up using a lot more because they're not working well. If you use it at night, in many cases, you don't actually end up needing to even use it every single night. You can use it a couple of nights a week because once it gets down in the sweat glands to reduce sweat output, it has a more long-asting effect and doesn't necessitate reapplication every single night. Mind you, some people do make a lot more sweat. they do have a tendency towards more sweat. So, they may need it a bit more frequently. But that is one place to start. Consider putting it on at night before you go to bed and not the following morning. And a lot of people say, "Oh, wait. But I take a shower the following morning. Aren't I going to just rinse it off?" That is fine. That's fine because the aluminum salts should be down in the sweat gland where they are meant to work. They're not meant to work at the surface of the skin. If anything, getting up and washing it off will help cut down on the irritation that you might experience from an aluminum based antipersperent because you no longer have that excessive aluminum salt residue on the surface of the skin to irritate you. It's just down in the sweat glands where it needs to work to cut down on sweat production. Couple that with the fact that you may end up finding you only need to use it a few nights a week to get good sweat control and boom, all of the sudden a lot of your issues that you had in the past with aluminum based antipersperants causing you irritation are no longer an issue. It's not going to be true for everyone, of course, but it may make a difference for you. There are also aluminum based antipersperent products that are intended for your feet and those can likewise be really helpful for cutting down on excessive sweat production that not only can lead to odor especially on the feet but also can be very compromising in your overall quality of life. Aside from antipersperants, there is also a medication that people who produce too much sweat that's known as hyperhydrosis might take. uh they're prescription only and they include things like glyopyrolate or oxybutin that helps to reduce the output of sweat depending on where you sweat too much. There's also a treatment known as iontopheresis that is a bit laborious but it can be really helpful for sweaty palms and soles. And then of course there is neurom modulator name for example Botox injections will help to reduce sweat output which ultimately can be a gamecher not only for your underarms but again for your palms, your soles and for the head and neck area even if you make a lot of sweat on your forehead for example. You want to do things throughout the day to try and keep yourself cool, to reduce excessive sweat production, and to reduce the accumulation of sweat on the body. And it can be as simple as your clothing. Stick to loose, breathable fabrics, moisture wicking fabrics. They can help to reduce sweat accumulation on the skin surface. And make sure you're not wearing really tight clothing that traps that sweat up against your body. Not only can that lead to body odor, but also can cause millaria, aka heat rash. The other part of addressing body odor is tackling the little bacteria that break down the sweat. Body washes, they can help for sure, but if you really want to cut down on the burden of bacteria, especially under your arms that are leading to odor, use a benzole peroxide acne wash as an underarm wash. You can also use this to wash your feet. It can definitely help with foot odor as well. Use it nightly as tolerated, although it can be very drying. And similar to the anti-persperent thing, you may find that you only need to use it a couple of nights a week to get that good deodorizing effect. Speaking of keeping dry, over the past few years, there has been a rise in popularity of these whole body deodorants. Starting with Lumi, whose ads we cannot escape here on YouTube, as well as now you've got them from Dove, Secret. Everybody has got a whole body deodorant these days. These products tend to be formulated with ingredients that may help absorb excess moisture. Kind of are offering some of the benefits that you might get from a powder without turning cakey and or becoming abrasive to the skin surface. They also have ingredients in them that in theory help to maintain the acidic nature of the skin barrier, ultimately promoting a healthier skin microbiome, reducing the burden of bacteria that cause you to stink. These products often have fragrance in them which which I will remind you guys is a common skin allergen especially in the skin folds where you have a greater exposure to it because of the friction the occlusion the sweat leads to greater penetration and honestly these fragrance compounds they can end up making you smell even worse in my experience. But some of these whole body deodorant products are fragrance-free and they do help to cut down on the accumulation of moisture and perhaps help to facilitate a better skin microbiome. Now, a lot of people on social media like to use glycolic acid products in the skin folds under the arms and I caution doing this because glycolic acid products can be particularly irritating in the skin folds depending especially on how the product overall is formulated. Like if you're buying a product that is marketed as a deodorant meant to go in the skin folds that has glycolic acid, chances are it is formulated in such a way that it will be better tolerated. But if you're just picking up a random skincare product like The Ordinary's glycolic acid toner, for example, and trying to use it in the skin folds where it was never meant to go because that's just not how that product is meant to be used, you can get significant irritation. Glycolic acid will help acidify the skin pH, but it can be super irritating. It's an exfoliant especially in the skin folds and ultimately if you get a lot of irritation that leads to barrier compromise and can cause you as a result to have more issues with odor due to now the differences in the skin microbiome. As a result there are variety of over-the-counter antiseptics like hiboclans or betadine surgical scrub that without a doubt if used to areas like under the arms, the skin folds, the feet can certainly help cut down on body odor. They are pretty broadsp spectrum, meaning they kind of wipe everything out, and that can be potentially concerning for the overall health of your microbiome long term. An alternative that I find to be particularly helpful is to take with you on the go, a hypocchlorous acid body spray. Hypocchlorous acid is safe to leave on the skin. kind of has a smell of a dilute bleach solution and it is thought to help normalize the bacteria or cut down on those bacteria that break down your sweat and lead to odor, but it doesn't really wipe out your microfllora. It's very gentle on the skin, although it can be drying in some cases. So, controlling sweat, tackling the odor-causing bacteria, and controlling moisture, those are strategies that really tackle the root causes of body odor. Whether it be coming from under your arms, whether it be coming from the groinfold area, or whether it be coming from your feet, paying attention to keeping these areas clean, dry, sweat low. Those are strategies that will help the majority of people. However, there are a lot of other circumstances out there that can lead to odor. And again, these over-the-top shower routines are not actually going to address these problems. One of them is a particularly strong strong body odor funk. And it's caused by a bacteria called Corini bacterium. Now this can cause um something known as tricomicosis axillaryis. It's basically a bacterial skin infection that leads to the formation of these nodules on the hair under your arms or in the pubic area. And this bacteria produces particularly strong odor compounds especially in men because it seems to break down the testosterone that is produced from the aocrine sweat glands in these areas and really can lead to a significant odor issue. Also this particular bacteria can cause a foot odor funk is known as pitted keratolyis and the feet are really really maloorous. The bacteria digests some of the little proteins and skin's outermost layer and produces these pits on the bottom of the feet known as pitted keratolyis. If you're dealing with either of these issues, uh the benzol peroxide acne wash can really help to tackle that bacteria and get things back on track, but you've got to address the moisture because that's really what is leading to the thriving of this little problematic creature. We see this a lot more actually in people who live in hot humid tropical climates. If you develop tricomicosis axillaris, those little nodules, you also want to trim or remove the hair in that area to get rid of this bacterial infection. So, trimming or cutting away the hair with those nodules coupled with using either a benzol peroxide acne wash or a topical antibiotic as prescribed by your dermatologist or your healthcare provider will address the problem. Speaking of removing body hair, removing body hair or at least trimming it in the skin folds in the genital area can also cut down on body odor quite a bit simply by reducing surface area for sweat to remain behind for bacteria to proliferate and break that sweat down. So, simply removing underarm hair or trimming it can make a difference. For a lot of people, removing hair in these areas causes them a lot of irritation. A lot of people may not want to shave their underarms, but simply trimming it to cut down on the surface area can make a huge difference for body odor for sure and cut down on recurrences of tricomyosis axiller if that's something that you have dealt with. Again, all of the tree hood, all the salt, none of that is going to tackle these issues that really cause a notable funk. But another cause of body odor for which all of the showering in the world will not address is body odor related to something that you are ingesting. Certain foods can make you smell a little funky. Garlic, onion, certain spices like cumin, they make their way out into your sweat and you can detect that and they do cause an odor. Now whether it's a bad odor is up to the person taking a whiff. Some people are not bothered by that odor. But if you have odor related to garlic, onions, certain spices, all of the body washes in the world are not going to actually tackle that, you have to cut back on consuming those foods if you want to reduce that odor. Also, as much as I love them, okay, cruciferous vegetables, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower can also make you have an odor because they produce these sulfur compounds also. So, you may want to dial back on consuming those. Heavy consumption of red meat definitely can also lead to a body odor as well as alcoholic beverage consumption. Certain dietary supplements can make you smell a little funky, namely Lcarnitine. Check out my video all about Lcarnitine supplementation. It can make you smell like fish. The next reason for body odor is not talked about enough and that is actually your clothing. Nowadays, we have all of these new modern fabrics like activew wear in particular that are great for moisture wicking, pulling sweat away from the body, keeping you from getting sweaty and may help directly cut down on your body odor, but but they also can be a culprit in your funk because they trap those odor-causing compounds, residues within the fabric network, if you will, themselves. And I really had my eyes open to this when I visited the Proctor and Gamble headquarters because they put on a talk there about laundering and odors and clothing and it really was mind-blowing. So more of the athletic wear, athleisure, the synthetic fabrics, they they really really trap odors. Here is something that will shock you. If you think about it, it makes sense, but it's probably not something that you think about on the regular. We not only sweat, but we shed a lot of dead skin cells. We have sebum, which is oil as well. Goes into our clothing. It's called body soil. How many of you raise your hands wear the same article of clothing a couple of times in a row before you wash it? I do it all the time. Okay. Whether it be jeans or a certain top that's really cute and I only wore for a few hours. But that could be a culprit in body odor as well. And a lot of people, for example, will notice this most marketkedly if they are told, "Hey, I think it'd be a good idea if you stop using scented laundry detergent and switch to fragrance-free laundry detergent." They make the switch and they're like, "This doesn't feel like it's really getting my clothes clean. They they don't really smell fresh." Honey, they were never fresh to begin with. You were just masking the odor with the strong scent from the scented laundry detergents. the body soil funk that has made its way into those fabrics and is stuck there. They did a demonstration, for example, to showcase how that body soil really stays behind in those synthetic fabrics versus cotton. And it was like, wow. Mind you, a lot of this lecture led into them talking about a product that they have, of course, to solve this issue, which actually is pretty compelling. It is the um Downey Rinse and Refresh Free and Gentle. It's a fragrance-free product that actually will go in there and break up those residues within your fabrics to really lift out that odorcausing stuff above and beyond what just your laundry detergent is able to accomplish. Now, I've never used that product myself, but I am really interested in it. And it's fragrance-free as well. Uh they make it of course scented because scents sell more than the fragrance-free stuff. But they have a fragrance-free option. So it really gets in there and breaks up those tough odor-causing residues. That could be what are making you smell a little off. But a laundry mistake a lot of people make is overloading their machine. If you overload your machine, you put too many clothes in your washing machine. I know, I know it's tempting to do that, especially if you pay per use. that can limit the detergent's ability to access those stubborn residues in the first place and really over time contribute to the culmination in the body soil and the odor of your fabrics. So, don't overload your washing machine. Also, make sure you're not skimping on the laundry detergent. I always worry that using so much laundry detergent would leave behind a detergent residue, but they educated us. Mind you, they're in the business of selling laundry detergent, okay? So take it with a grain of salt. But they educated us at this talk that a lot of people will underdose their washing machine with detergent and as a result they're not using the proper amount. They're not really getting their clothes properly clean. So make sure at the very least that you follow the directions of the detergent that you're using as far as how much to use. So don't overload your machine and don't underdose the detergent. All right, guys. So, those are some odorific facts, tips, tricks, strategies for how to smell better, how to address your body odor issues. Now, there are certain underlying medical conditions or certain medications that also can influence body odor. So, if you're dealing with a particularly stubborn type of odor, you're not sure what's going on, definitely see your health care provider. Depending on the issue, they may refer you to a board-certified dermatologist to really help tackle some of these underlying issues. But for the vast majority of people, addressing sweat, staying dry, and keeping on top of the odor-causing bacteria in the skin folds, that will really help correct a lot of body odor issues. Not buying seven different scented body washes. Only use those fun body washes if you just enjoy them and they're not causing you any problems. All right, guys. I hope you enjoyed this video. If so, give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends, and as always, don't forget sunscreen and subscribe. I'll talk to you guys tomorrow. Bye. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Music]