Body odor is the unpleasant smell caused by the mixing of perspiration, or sweat, and bacteria on the skin of the human body. As this sweat appears on the skin surface, it softens the epidermal keratin producing smell as a result. Bacteria feed upon the keratin and sweat and produce odor. This odor is often due to poor personal hygiene, but excessive perspiration or some other underlying disease is sometimes involved.

Body odor is associated with the hair, feet, crotch, and anus; skin in general, breasts, armpits, genitals, pubic hair, and mouth.

Perspiration that is triggered by emotion is most likely to occur on your face, in your armpits, on your palms and on the soles of your feet. But how much you sweat and even the way your sweat smells can be influenced by your mood, your diet, some drugs and medical conditions, and even your hormone levels.

Causes of Odor and Perspiration

Red meat is the one cause of body odor. Red meat causes stagnation in the body; it putrefies in the digestive tract and releases all sorts of toxins into the bloodstream through the large intestine. As far as other foods that cause body odor, manufactured foods those lacking fiber and made with refined white flour, added sugars, hydrogenated oils and other processed ingredients are the big culprits.

Anaerobic bacteria, which take birth when we have lack of oxygen, may be the cause of body odor. As the body's metabolism goes to work, it gives off odors, which is the body's way of ridding itself of waste products. Any imbalances in metabolism will result in stronger odors. Thus, toxins are the main cause of the body odor.

Home Remedies for *As we know that tea tree is an antibacterial herb. Make a deodorant by mixing two drops of the essential oil and one ounce of water.

*Use baby powder to control perspiration and odor on any part of your body like feet, genital area, or arm pits. Also try shaving/trimming arm pits hairs and pubic hairs to reduce both perspiration and odor as well.

*Arnica is also a good home remedies treatment because it actually kills the odor producing bacteria. Apply arnica cream instead of a commercial deodorant. This can be found in most health food stores.

*About 80 percent of the sweat glands are concentrated in the armpits. So pay special attention to this area while bathing. From a hygienic point of view, it is better if you remove underarm hair regularly so that perspiration does not get trapped in it and linger on.

*Pour regular old-fashioned listerine into a spray bottle and spray into armpits. Allow to dry, and then apply favorite smell-good. The listerine kills bacteria for hours thus avoiding the funk. NOTE: Do NOT use this remedy for the groin area!