Parasites and Body Odor

Learning Center Misc. Health and Wellness Body Odor

Recent medical research has shown that some people with body odor suffer
from severe problems in their personal and social relationships, as well as
wrecked promotion prospects at work, educational under-achievement
because of teasing and bullying along with enormous degrees of stress
which is blamed for their frequent progression into alcoholism, excessive
tobacco or drug use and in some cases to suicide.

Feelings of shame, embarrassment, low self-esteem, isolation, frustration,

anxiety and depression are extremely common where body odor is present.

Although sufferers and their families have been shown to gain considerable
benefit from sympathetic counseling, and while learning to deal with the
stress this condition causes is certainly important - long-term strategies and
approaches which deal with underlying causes of increased body odor are
probably a lot more important.

Certainly the answer does not lie in antiperspirant and deodorant sprays
which at best only mask the problem, although safe forms of these might
well prove useful in the short-term - as long as they are not adding to the
person's problem - for example by increasing exposure to and absorption of
aluminum - now implicated in Alzheimer's disease.

Many Causes of B.O.

The reason why some people smell offensively can have various causes some easily remedied others not - and it is these which need to be dealt
with:

When Body Odor is simply a result of inadequate bathing (and/or

cleaning/washing of clothes) the solutions are equally simple - better
hygiene, regular bathing/showering as well as the regular washing of clothes
- which should ideally always be of natural fiber such as cotton. Try using
soap nuts or some other kind of all-natural laundry detergent
Much Body Odor is caused by skin bacterial activity on sweat which has
dried on the skin - and this makes people who sweat excessively more likely
to be affected. In some people (the excitable 'greyhound/racehorse' types)
the sympathetic aspect of the nervous system is dominant and they tend to

sweat more, whereas in others (the calmer 'bulldog/carthorse' type) the

parasympathetic aspect dominates and they tend to stay calmer. So keeping
stress levels low is important for people who sweat a lot.

Tactics such as learning relaxation methods and stress coping techniques

along with improved nutritional balance, all help to reduce this tendency.

In women, menstruation and stress often dramatically increases the degree

of body odor experienced and careful attention to personal hygiene and
dietary excellence is called for.
The efficiency or otherwise of our internal detoxification processes are
commonly affected by nutrient imbalances - for example the micro-element
zinc has been reported by Professor Derek Bryce-Smith, of Reading
University, England, as being deficient in people with body odor.

A thorough review of nutritional status of anyone with body odor should be

undertaken by a suitable professional nutritional adviser.

B.O. is sometimes associated with specific health problems including liver

dysfunction, diabetes, digestive problems (parasites, etc) and yeast
infections and these conditions require professional attention and advice.

Some people with systemic yeast conditions (Candida) carry a 'beer' smell since yeast can turn sugar into alcohol in their body's very rapidly.
Fortunately safe natural anti-yeast dietary and herbal methods exist which
can bring such conditions under control. One recommend product that may
help is Mycozil.

Medical tests at Imperial College in London has shown that some people
with body odor have imbalances affecting the 'friendly bacteria' which live
inside all of our digestive systems. If these vital micro-organisms are
unbalanced through use of medication (antibiotics and steroids in particular)
or a high fat, high sugar, high red-meat, low fiber diet the vital role they play
in detoxification of the bowel and in manufacturing important nutrients is
impaired and this can lead to aggravation of Body Odor, as well as to
numerous other health problems.3 Taking a probiotic supplement will help
balance it out.

In such cases 'repopulation' of the intestines with healthy friendly bacteria,

commonly found in probiotics, as well as regular short detoxification efforts
can be extremely are helpful in both helping to help normalize intestinal
flora and to remove toxic debris from the system.

Anyone with body odor - of any type - should supplement daily with good
quality Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacteria in order to boost their
intestinal flora quality.

In addition, detoxification via a one day juice or water or fruit only day, two
or three times a month (all day Saturday for example) is a useful strategy
(but not for people on prescription medication, diabetics or people with
eating disorders without supervision by a qualified health care professional).
There are many detox foods that can help.

A balanced diet is also called for if Body Odor is a problem, ideally one in
which 20% of the diet comes from protein (fish, poultry or vegetarian
combinations of pulses and grains), 20% of the diet can come from oils and
fats (avoiding animal fats as much as possible) with the balance from
vegetables, fruit, pulses and grains.

This should be supported by a daily high potency multivitamin /multimineral

supplement.

Some people (about 7% of people complaining of body odor) do not

completely digest particular foods because of in-born enzyme deficiencies,
or due to acquired digestive problems, and this leads to a B.O. in which a
strong 'fishy' smell is noted - especially around period time (or when the
contraceptive pill is being used). The substance which causes this smell is
called trimethylamine.2
Dietary changes - particularly reducing foods rich in the amino acids
carnitine and lysine and more importantly foods rich in lecithin and choline can reduce the intensity of the problem in these severe cases.

Researchers emphasize that apart from diet this form of Body Odor will be
aggravated during menstruation, when there is a fever or when the person
is under stress.

When Body Odor has this fish-like smell increased care is needed over food
selection because studies in London2 have shown that diet irritates this
usually inherited condition.

Foods rich in the amino acid carnitine are known to leave residues in the
intestines which have to be worked on by the natural flora (friendly
bacteria). If very specific enzymes (known as flavin monooxygenases) which
break the residues down to an odorless state ready for excretion are in poor
supply or are missing (or if the bowel flora are disturbed) the characteristic
fish-like odor appears.

For people with this particular 'fish odor form of Body Odor the following
foods which are rich in lecithin or choline or carnitine/lysine should be
avoided or kept to a small part of the daily diet.

These include: Chocolate, peanuts, nuts, raisins, cereals. (carnitine/lysine)

Eggs, soya products, corn, wheatgerm. (choline/lecithin)

Instead of these there needs to be greater emphasis on eating vegetables,

rice and fruit - with fish or poultry as protein sources for non-vegetarians.

Although true 'Fish Odor Syndrome' is probably the worst sort of Body Odor it fortunately affects a relatively small number of people - and the strategies
outlined above can usually deal with its worst aspects.

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References
1.Bryce-Smith D Hodgkinson L The Zinc Solution Century Arrow 1986
2.Ayesh R et al The Fish Odour Syndrome : Biochemical, familial and clinical
aspects. British Medical Journal 1993;307pp655-657
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