21 Home Remedies for Body Odor

Body odor: the name of the issue is self-explanatory, but there are a handful of different things that can cause the bothersome smells.

What causes body odor is the bacteria on the body breaking sweat down into different acids that give off smells. Things like diabetes, puberty, and hyperhidrosis can cause you to release different amounts of body odor. While sweat occurs everywhere, there a couple of different places that build up more sweat. Those places include the following: behind the ears, the belly button, genitals and groin, armpits, and feet.

 

Home Remedies for Body Odor

There’s nothing dangerous about body odor or what causes it, so this list will be ways of how to lessen it or prevent it.

 

1. Hygiene

Stay clean as best you can and it’ll help to keep the bacteria that causes body odor to be less in number. It’s also good to keep body hair to a minimum because the hair traps moisture and it takes the body a long time for the sweat to evaporate so the bacteria has a longer window of time to break it down.

2. Antiperspirant Deodorant

Antiperspirants help to slow or stop the sweat glands in your underarms and deodorant lessens the chances bacteria has of thriving because your skin becomes more acidic. You should be careful when buying antiperspirant deodorants because some can be connected to prostate and breast cancers. When in doubt, buy deodorants that are made with natural ingredients.    

 

3. Socks, Shoes and Bare Feet

To limit or lessen the sweat production of your feet, wear clean socks every day. There are even special socks made to help with sweaty feet.

During the summer, spring, and fall, try to wear shoes that have a least a little mesh or that aren’t made from only man-made materials. Mesh at the toes of the shoe can let your feet breath and allow for more sweat evaporation. Shoes made of things like leather also allow for more and better breathing.

When you’re just walking around the house, try walking around barefoot. Having nothing on your feet is the best way to stop most- if not all- sweat production.

 

4. Natural Clothing

Clothing made of man-made materials affect your body the same way plastic or vinyl shoes affect your feet. Wearing natural fibers like wool, silk, or cotton, are much healthier for your body.

 

5. Avoid Hot Food

Food with either (or both) temperature heat or spicy heat can make you sweat even more. So even though chili or the Cajun dish sounds good, trying using a bit less spice than you normally would. This is an especially important home remedy to keep in mind when the weather is hot. It is less likely to affect body odor when the temperature is cool.

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7. Pumice Stone

After a shower, two or three times a week, try gently scrubbing the bottoms of your feet to remove dead skin. The bacteria that causes feet sweat can feast and thrive on that dead skin.

 

8. Lemon Juice

Lemon juice is rather acidic so it stops sweat causing bacteria to thrive. Cut a lemon in half or cut two slices off at a time. Rub each half or slice on each underarm, making sure the juice gets into your skin, and let it dry on its own. Once it’s dry, shower like you normally would. You can repeat this every day until the odor is gone.

For some people, straight lemon juice is too strong or their skin is too sensitive. If you find you have this issue, then dilute juice from one half the lemon in half a cup of water and apply it to your underarms with a cotton ball. Rinse the juice and water off after ten minutes (whether it’s dry or not) and shower like you usually do. You can also repeat this daily until the odor is gone.

 

9. Sage

Sage is an incredibly good smelling herb that is both good for fighting bacteria and for slowing the production of sweat glands. You can use sage tea to get this home remedy benefit.

To make your own sage tea at home, get two tablespoons of dried sage leaves steep in boiling for ten minutes before using the sage water to rinse your underarms after it cools.

Alternatively, make your own deodorant spray by mixing the five drops of essential oils from sage, lavender, and coriander with two ounces of distilled witch hazel. Using either of these sage home remedies will help to fight off body odor.

10. Baking Soda

Baking soda absorbs sweat and it also fights odor bearing bacteria off changing your skin’s pH. To use baking soda, mix it with a just a little bit of lemon juice and water. You only want to use enough water and lemon juice to make a paste. Once the paste is ready, you apply it to your underarms and let it dry before washing it off.

 

11. Green Tea

Green tea keeps all sorts of bacteria at bay because of its detoxifying and antioxidant powers. Try to drink a cup or two of green tea a day.

12. Yogurt

Yogurt is good for you in general, but when applied to the skin, it kills bacteria and can promote healthy skin. You can also eat more yogurt to get the same effect, but a more direct route is to apply the yogurt to your skin for a couple minutes before rinsing or washing it off. Plain yogurt works best when applying it to your skin, but you can use any kind of yogurt if you are going to eat it.

 

13. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is used for killing bacteria and it can help you with body odor causing bacteria as well. Make a mixture with a teaspoon of citric acid powder and a cup of water and rinse your body with it before getting out of the shower. Dry off and apply coconut like you would apply a lotion. You can do this every day.

 

14. Epsom Salts

Epsom salts are used to detoxify the body. While filling your bathtub with warm water, add in two to three cups of the Epsom salt, lay in the tub for twenty minutes, and relax.

15. Fennel Seeds

Fennel seeds have been known to help lessen or stop body odor as well work as a laxative. To use fennel seeds, you simply make a tea by steeping a teaspoon of crushed fennel seeds in a cup of boiling water. To add more flavor, you can honey to your taste.

16. Milk of Magnesia

This is an acid suspended in water, so it counteracts the acid created when the bacteria breaks your sweat. You can apply the milk of magnesia to your underarms or you can mix it with a few drops of an essential oil you like to add scent (lavender, jasmine, or citrus would smell nice) and apply it.

 

17. Rosewater Deodorant

You can make your own deodorant by storing three tablespoons of rosewater and a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in a spray bottle. Rosewater makes the size of skin pores small so it reduces the amount of the sweat and it has a beautiful scent. You should use this every day to see the best results.

 

18. Neem Leaves

These leaves are antiseptic, antibacterial, and antifungal, so it covers most (if not all) of the causes for body odor. You can grind up a handful of the leaves with a mortar and pestle so they’re a fine paste. Once you have the paste you apply the paste to the affected part of your body and rinse it off with warm water once it dries.

If you would prefer, you can also make a bath soak to relax in. instead of the paste, you boil the leaves in a cup of water and after you strain the water to get the leaves out, pour the water into your bath and just soak in it until the water’s cool.

19. Parsley Water

To use parsley to battle internal bad breath and body odor, you boil the parsley leaves in water for five minutes and strain the water and drink it. Drink the tea a time or two a day to get the best results.

 

20. Cornstarch

This is powder is antibacterial, absorbing, and it keeps skin drier. You sprinkle some cornstarch on the part of your body that sweats the most and let sit for the rest of the day. Shower at the end of the day to wash the powder off.

 

21. Cedar Sprig

This is something that some people swear by and some people say is nonsense. You take a small number of cedar leaves and put it in your shoe. Putting it in your shoe absorbs sweat and leaves a pleasant scent. You might have to change the spring every day or every other day.        

 

Which of these home remedies are you most likely to use? Comment Below!

 

References

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/173478.php  

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/319002.php?sr

https://www.top10homeremedies.com/home-remedies/home-remedies-body-odor.html

https://www.naturalfoodseries.com/15-home-remedies-body-odor/

https://www.stylecraze.com/articles/effective-home-remedies-for-reducing-body-odour/  

Cover photo: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aquamech-utah/24445365953