What is Sweat?
Sweat serves as the body’s natural cooling mechanism. When the internal temperature of the body elevates due to factors like hot weather, fevers, working in heated environments, infections, or various other reasons, the sweat glands embedded in the skin become active, initiating the excretion of fluid.
This fluid is completely made from water (99%) only but it also contains traces of salt, ammonia, urea, uric acid, proteins, immunoglobulin A, and other essential minerals known as electrolytes.
The body uses the sweating mechanism to cool itself, as the majority of sweat is made up of water, hence as anyone sweats water evaporates from the skin and cools you down.
Maintaining temperature and getting rid of increased temperature are the primary reasons why we sweat. If sweating is extreme, chances of dehydration are high due to extra loss of body fluids and it is very important to replace the lost fluids with water or electrolyte drinks.
At What Temperature Does Our Body Start to Sweat?
The body’s normal core temperature is about 37°C (98.6°F) but it may vary among individual bodies or as per geographical conditions they are living. It’s obvious when you are in the sun your temperature will be high as compared to nighttime, the body adjusts its temperature as per the external conditions.
In response to environmental conditions, our body adapts to regulate its temperature. When the body temperature is low, it generates more heat, and conversely, when the temperature is high, the body initiates sweating to dispel excess heat and facilitate cooling. Broadly speaking, our body triggers the sweating process when the internal temperature exceeds one degree from the safe and optimal range.
What is Evaporative Cooling?
Perspiration is the process of sweating, in the process sweat transforms into gas from its liquid state with the usage of energy derived from the body in the form of heat.
Cooling through evaporation is a natural occurrence and the most common example we all experience is perspiration, called sweat. Your body makes use of the evaporation process when sweating; Sweating reduces body heat through a process known as evaporative cooling.
The extent of cooling is dependent on factors like evaporation rate and heat of evaporation, and both factors may vary within the individuals. Our body uses the process of evaporation to cool it down and the process is necessary to maintain the right body temperature. The mechanism of converting sweat into vapor illustrates the fundamental principle of heat exchange, where the body utilizes its internal energy to facilitate the cooling necessary for maintaining optimal temperatures.
What Body Parts Sweat the Most?
Sweat glands occur all over the body and open directly onto the surface of the skin. The body parts that sweat the most are the forehead, scalp, groin, armpits, palms, and soles of the feet.
Sweat is produced by glands in the deeper layer of the skin, the dermis. The dermis is the layer of skin that lies beneath the epidermis and above the subcutaneous layer.
Sweat glands in the dermis produce sweat and as the sweat evaporates off the skin, it cools down the skin to maintain homeostasis. (Homeostasis is the ability of living creatures to maintain stability within the body in response to external conditions either by adjusting or self-regulating.)
What Are The Primary Causes of Stinky Sweat and How to Fix Them?
Sweating and body odor are caused by sweat glands in your body. The two main types of sweat glands are eccrine glands and apocrine glands.
Eccrine glands are distributed all over the body and open directly onto the surface of the skin, particularly on the forehead, palms, and soles. When internal body temperature rises, the eccrine glands secrete a watery solution (99%) that contains various electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and chloride to the skin surface.
Apocrine glands, on the other hand, open into hair follicles, and are crowded in places like armpits, breast area, and genitals. These glands release a fatty secretion that is odorless, oily, and opaque onto the skin.
Reasons for stinky sweat can be many and you must know a few of them but must have ignored them. Let’s dig into them and find a solution to easily fix them without delay.
1. Skin Bacteria
Sweat itself doesn’t produce smell, the culprit behind offending pungent body odor is skin bacteria. Sweat and its constituents are direct food of the bacteria, bacteria living in these places break down the ingredients of sweat and in the process, the stinky byproduct is released by the bacteria in the form of molecules such as acetic acid (vinegar-like sweat smell), thioalcohol’s (garlic and rotten egg like sweat smell), volatile fatty acids (molecules that turn smelly as they evaporate).
Body Odor by Bacterial Decomposition
Even though human sweat is odorless but as local bacteria on the skin come in contact with the sweat elements mostly the fatty acids, bacteria break it down into odorous fatty acids also called microbial waste through the process known as bacterial decomposition.
Body Odor by Bacterial Infection
Apocrine glands open into the hair follicle, leading to the surface of the skin, most apocrine glands on the skin are in the armpits, the groin, and the area around the nipples of the breast. As mostly these areas are covered with clothes, the process of sweat evaporation is interrupted leaving the area warm and moist. A perfect place for bacteria or fungi to grow and feed on fatty acids secreted by apocrine glands. When sweaty areas are not cleaned for a long time it can lead to itchiness, red skin rashes, fungal infections, and bad smell.
How to Fix?
Bacteria infections are due to bacteria feeding on your skin, some infections develop on the skin that may be due to existing conditions or some hidden disease of the skin. Areas of the body that are hidden like underarms and genital areas must be cleaned all the time, clean areas will have less chance to develop bacteria or fungus thus less smelly sweat.
Also choose a fabric that allows maximum breathability, and sweat-wicking properties, and try to avoid too tight undergarments. Cotton is a natural fabric and polyester is a synthetic fabric that is great for skin and perspiration.
2. Personal Hygiene
Poor hygiene can lead bacteria to grow on the skin, nails, mouth, and other body parts. Unintentional failure to body cleanliness provides an environment for germs and bacteria to grow on your skin.
Every day we come in contact with many viruses, bacteria, and pollutants, and without proper hygiene, our skin becomes vulnerable to infections if untreated for long. Untreated sweat can make your body itch, cause heat rashes, dry your skin, and even trigger blisters on the skin.
How to Fix?
Clean your body every day with the skin-friendly mild soap with the antimicrobial agent as an ingredient and don’t let the sweat stay on your skin for a long time. If not in the situation to take a bath, gently clean your whole body with a wet cloth, especially the armpits, and groin. These will reduce bacteria to grow on your skin leading to less body odor.
3. Stress Level
Yes, it is true emotions can change the smell of your sweat, for example, during sex scent of sweat will differ when compared with stress sweat. Our sweat glands are sensitive to emotions, body hormones, and external and internal temperatures, hence get triggered whenever some related situation arises.
Two distinct types of sweating scenarios exist – thermogenic and psychological. Thermogenic sweating occurs when the body temperature rises, often due to external factors like weather conditions, fever, or illnesses. On the other hand, psychological sweating is triggered by emotional or mental stress and anxiety.
Experiencing excessive sweating on the hands, palms, forehead, face, underarms, and even sweaty feet can serve as indicators of anxiety and stress. Excessive and uncontrolled sweating may be attributed to a condition known as hyperhidrosis. Notably, the sweat produced during moments of anxiety or fear can carry a potent, sometimes even sulfurous, odor.
Night sweats, akin to hot flashes and sudden cold sweats, can manifest due to various factors such as anxiety, stress, pain, and infections. Additionally, conditions like hyperhidrosis that lead to excessive sweating are characterized by dripping sweat from hands, underarms, feet, and forehead. It’s noteworthy that hyperhidrosis is not only a physiological concern but can also contribute to social anxiety and feelings of embarrassment.
How to Fix?
Stress sweat may result in a more pungent aroma when broken down by natural bacteria on the skin. Our sweat glands are activated by various nerves underneath the skin and are sensitive to psychological changes like stress, anxiety, fear, and hormone releases.
Recognizing these triggers broadens the understanding of sweating patterns, paving the way for targeted approaches to manage both the physical and emotional aspects of these experiences.
“Less stress less sweat, less sweat less body odor”.
4. Hormone Imbalance
Numerous physical changes, including hormonal fluctuations and imbalances, trigger increased activity in the body’s sweat glands, leading to elevated sweat production. Females nearing puberty, pregnancy, and pre or post menopause, experience dramatic estrogen surges and dips, these situations may cause them sweatier. Weight gain due to hormonal imbalances is also a major cause of sweating, excessive sweating may also be the result of certain endocrine changes.
What are Endocrine Diseases?
Endocrine diseases (like Hyper/Hypothyroidism, Addison’s disease, Cushing’s syndrome, Polycystic ovary syndrome, and diabetes) result when a gland in the endocrine system produces too much or too little of an endocrine hormone, developing a hormone imbalance in the body.
The major glands of the endocrine system include the pineal gland, pituitary gland, pancreas, ovaries, testicles, thyroid gland, parathyroid gland, hypothalamus, and adrenal glands.
How to Fix?
Hormone imbalance or restructuring occurs naturally in many phases of life of humans and that is part of natural occurrence. But, sometimes hormonal imbalance can trigger many complications in the human body and that can be cured only by specialized doctors. Seek medical attention if symptoms like sudden weight increase, excess sweating, retarded growth, vision problems, blood clotting, or pain in a specific area appear.
5. Underlying Medical Condition
Some underlying medical conditions, chronic or non-chronic, can cause your body odor to be unpleasant and can affect quality of life. Medical conditions like liver disease, diabetes, and kidney issues can sweat you more and are often accompanied by strong-smelling breath or body odor, being If you are overweight/obese, have food allergies or sensitivities, anxiety disorder, endocrine imbalance, infections, cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other cardiovascular problem you may surface with severe hot flashes, cold sweats and excessive sweating.
How to Fix?
Medical treatment, lifestyle changes, and dietary changes will certainly help.
6. Diet - “You Smell Like What You Eat”
When your body sweats, the chemicals released alongside the fluid can mirror the scent of the foods you consume in larger quantities daily. Surprisingly, this odor may not be as delightful as the flavors you enjoy while eating. The connection between dietary choices and the olfactory components of sweat highlights how our body processes and reflects the aromatic qualities of our everyday meals.
What you eat directly affects your body odor, eating high levels of certain high-aroma food items like garlic, onion, meat, fish curry, and alcohol, can contribute to your smelly body odor. It is expected food aroma may also get secreted through your sweat glands and give your sweat a typical food smell.
How to Fix?
Try to avoid strong aroma foods in your diet or either completely restrict them. Occasional eating will not make your sweat stink like what you ate but anything consumed in high quantities always has its repercussions.
7. No Sweaty Genes
People with the ABCC11 non-functioning gene variant have little or no body odor while people with a functioning ABCC11 gene usually have body odor. As underarm sweat is linked with the ABCC11 gene, if the ABCC11 gene is non-functional, sweat molecules are unable to cross the membrane barrier to reach the armpit.
According to a group of researchers from the University of Bristol in the UK, “Two percent of people in the world carry an unusual form of a specific gene (ABCC11) that prevents their armpits from producing an offensive odor” That means their armpits never smell. East Asians and Native Americans are known to carry a variant of the ABCC11 gene.
How to Fix?
You cannot fix it, everyone’s genetics are different; we are born with certain set types of genes that we carry throughout our lives.
8. Minerals Deficiency
Insufficient levels of specific vitamins or minerals in the body can contribute to increased perspiration. For instance, a deficiency in vitamin B12 is associated with conditions like excessive sweating and night sweats, while a lack of vitamin D has been linked to sweating, particularly in the head region.
For example, Minerals like magnesium inhibit sweat glands, meaning you will sweat less when exposed to the mineral. When you sweat you naturally lose magnesium, excessive sweating can lead to magnesium deficiency. So it is required to supplement your body with magnesium, though you’ll need a mineral named calcium to improve your body’s ability to absorb the magnesium.
How to Fix?
Our body requires certain vitamins and minerals to work properly, these nutrients can be acquired from everyday food or supplements. Nutrient deficiency in our body can be directly or indirectly linked to excessive sweating and later stinky smell. Sweating emphasizes the importance of maintaining a balanced mineral intake to support overall health.
9. Medications
Certain prescription and non-prescription medications, employed for diverse medical conditions, may give rise to an augmented propensity for sweating – a phenomenon referred to as diaphoresis, occurring as a side effect.
During illness, such as in cases of fever, viral infections, or bacterial infections, the body naturally releases more heat, and sweating can be a part of this response. Certain medications, including antibiotics, pain relievers, blood pressure medications, and anti-anxiety tablets, may induce excessive sweating as a side effect.
How to Fix?
Fever is an important component of the body’s natural healing process. When you have a fever, your body tries to cool down naturally by sweating. When the body processes medicine pills, the resulting metabolites are released into the bloodstream and subsequently excreted as waste through different pathways. Sweat glands also play a role in this elimination process alongside the primary routes of excretion, such as the kidneys and liver.
However, if sweating becomes excessive or if other concerning symptoms manifest, seeking the guidance of a healthcare professional is advisable. Your doctor can assess the situation and provide appropriate recommendations for potential adjustments, alternative treatments, or additional strategies to manage this side effect effectively.
Takeaway
Whether it’s adopting proper hygiene practices, choosing breathable fabrics, or considering dietary adjustments, if you understand the trigger causing smelly sweat you can easily enjoy an odor-free life. So, here’s to fresher, more confident days ahead, where smelly sweat becomes a thing of the past with the right actionable and proactive steps.
Important: If excessive sweating becomes a concern at any age, consulting with a healthcare professional can offer valuable insights and potential strategies for managing it effectively.