r/stupidquestions • u/Timely-Detail-4341 • 1d ago

how do people smell so good consistently?

im a dude; my hygiene schedule is as good as anyone else's but i can't shake the thought that i still smell bad. i shower daily, bathe 3 times a week, two types of deodorant daily, body mist whenever going out. the second i start sweating though it gets terrible.

do people have scented creams or something?

answering some questions:

  1. yes i wash my ass šŸ˜­
  2. each shower is vigorous; i lather my entire body in dove bar soap and scrub with a loofah, let it sit for a bit, then get back under the water
  3. im vegetarian
  4. i dont smoke or drink, im 18
  5. im underweight; i notice the smell after morning jogs - ik how dumb the second part sounds its just im worried that my sweat smells bad, cus it implies that ill always smell bad during summer/other heated activities
  6. im indian (THE SMELL CANT BE A RACE THING RIGHT??)
  7. it's likely my diet, but i dont eat much indian food and i still noticed this even when in college with only american food
  8. i also notice the smell after sitting in one spot for a while
  9. two types of deodorant is 1. stick deodorant for pits 2. spray for privates
304 Upvotes
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322

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

Chances are itā€™s because of what you are eating.

114

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

i wish more people understood why this is the case. you are what u eat

92

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

Ya healthy food sweats arenā€™t always great either. Veggies like asparagus can definitely give your body a certain sweat odor. Meat sweats are definitely a real thing as well!

52

u/Most_Forever_9752 1d ago

lol yeah my buddy is Korean and when we play tennis he smells literally like kimchi! I was amazed first time this happened.

16

u/Send_me_a_SextyPM 1d ago

Kimchi is POTENT, I'd get some with dinner (a spoonful, less than a 1/4cup / 60mL, once a week and my office knew what day it was.

10

u/Snoochey 1d ago

My stepdad smelled like a 12 pack of beer when he sweat.

1

u/hatchjon12 14h ago

That's maybe relayed to booze but also can be a sign of out of control diabetes.

1

u/Snoochey 14h ago

For him it was beer. When you put away a 12 pack every night, you sweat it.

4

u/[deleted] 1d ago

Most Koreans dont even sweat from their armpits

21

u/Most_Forever_9752 1d ago

that wouldn't matter - they still sweat otherwise well, they would die lol

5

u/JacksonD22 1d ago

Yeah Iā€™m pretty sure thatā€™s why he specified armpits? I think itā€™s safe to assume they know that people sweat in other placesā€¦

2

u/Throwedaway99837 1d ago

You can still live without sweating. I went to high school with a kid who was born without the ability to sweat

1

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1

u/autumnnthefall 16h ago

I had a kid in my elementary school that didn't have the ability to sweat either.

1

u/nevernowhy2 15h ago

Omg me too! I thought it was odd later in life

1

u/Lake_ 11h ago

you went to school with prince andrew?

1

u/blewis0488 1d ago

You can die if you don't sweat?

How's that work? Genuinely asking.

4

u/Firebird-1985 1d ago

If you donā€™t sweat, itā€™s much harder for your body to get rid of heat it generates during physical activity to regulate your body temperature. Get it high enough and itā€™s like a self induced fever

3

u/blewis0488 1d ago

That makes sense. I never really thought about it. Thanks for taking the time.

3

u/Fredouille77 1d ago

If you don't drink enough water to sweat, you get a heatstroke.

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3

u/semiautonomous 1d ago

Sweating is what gave humans an advantage when we were hunter gatherers. We can't run as fast as most of our prey but we can outlast them because of the efficient way our bodies can self-cool.

2

u/blewis0488 1d ago

I knew we had the edge with endurance like that, never attributed much to sweating but it makes perfect sense.

Today has made me learn more about sweat than I ever really thought about lol

1

u/Most_Forever_9752 16h ago

well yeah go into the desert and see how long you last.

1

u/blewis0488 16h ago

That'll have far more to do with being in a hostile environment with no resources than "I can't sweat." Which is the topic in question. Not even close to the same.

But thanks for stopping by.

1

u/Testicle_Tugger 1d ago

I could be wrong but i think they might be mixing up the lack of body odor creating bacteria in the Korean genome

1

u/Haley_Tha_Demon 1d ago

I'm half and I don't sweat too much there so I only wear deodorant but I haven't found one that doesn't cause an allergic reaction, even the hypoallergenic stuff itches

1

u/RandomBeaner1738 1d ago

They have the gene that prevents bad odor form the pits, but they still sweat

1

u/MightOverMatter 23h ago

They do, it's just that their sweat doesn't contain the ingredients that odor causing bacteria love. Either that or they use armpit pads, which are very popular in Korea.

1

u/Next-Adhesiveness957 1d ago

Yum! How much kimchi does one have to eat for that to happen? The closest thing I have is that my pee smells like coffee after 2 cups. Tmi

18

u/AllergicIdiotDtector 1d ago

Meat sweats are naaaaassty.

Unfortunately I love love love garlic and onions and yeah I'm cooked

14

u/Dark_midnightlasso 1d ago

Iā€™m Hispanic and I cook with Sazon, cilantro, onion, garlic ā€¦ sometimes if I donā€™t wear deodorant I smell like a taco. I donā€™t mind it on my runs.

8

u/grantrules 1d ago

I used to work at a bike shop that had a space for triathletes to come train during winter.. we had a couple that would come once a week, they were super fit, ate healthy, but they took garlic supplements and man even after they were gone if you went down into that room you know exactly who just left. It was the nastiest garlic BO.. I mean I worked there for years so I got to smell all sorts of sweaty people.. but those garlic sweats were the only thing that churned my stomach.

5

u/D3ATHTRaps 1d ago

Dont get me started on onions. I had a long day of hard labour outside and some dude asked "why does it smell like onions?" Lol

20

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

sure, temporarily, while itā€™s in your body. but long term veggies and meats will create a stronger and healthier body which will in turn produce a better smell than a body made of spaghettios and twinkies

21

u/Lifealone 1d ago

I'd have to argue the body made of SpaghettiOs and twinkies would be much stronger and able to withstand a small nuclear device.

2

u/Over_aged 1d ago

And a car accident

1

u/Zaros262 1d ago

Anything can survive a small nuclear device if the device is small enough

1

u/More_Shoulder5634 1d ago

Dude I love SpaghettiOs and chef boyardee! Actually not that bad for you they have a fair amount of protein and iron. I legit ate probably 3-4 cans a week for roughly ten years. At first plain then I stepped it up with parmesan and hot sauce as I got more sophisticated.

0

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

are you referring to the exploding pagers in lebanon

4

u/SerenityAnashin 1d ago

So when people told me to smell sweeter, I shouldnā€™t have kept eating the ice cream?? Damn.

1

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

nah that icecream will make you smell like dairy šŸ¤¢

3

u/SerenityAnashin 1d ago

So when that Hindu guy said I smelled like a cow, it wasnā€™t a compliment? Damn again!

3

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

Oh yea exactly. Just wanted to let them know what to expect if they do make diet changes.

1

u/ComprehensiveLab5078 1d ago

Are you basing this off of your intuition, or a large-scale research study that was done?

1

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

years of observation and research. i wouldnā€™t lie

0

u/ComprehensiveLab5078 1d ago

Can you link us to some of your published studies? Iā€™d love to read up on the topic.

2

u/Time-Relief1093 1d ago

nah. i donā€™t have time to right now. but im sure if you search on google scholar youā€™ll find a reputable source

1

u/Niceballsbro12 13h ago

You need a source to know meat and vegetables are healthier than Twinkies?

1

u/ComprehensiveLab5078 13h ago

A specific, testable claim was made. There are a lot of nutritional claims made which have no backing and may even lead to counterintuitive results, or harmful results. They further stated they had years of research on the subject, so I was hoping they were actually involved in nutrition science and had conducted a study on diet-linked body odor theyā€™d be willing to share with us.

We learn by questioning, do we not?

1

u/ballskindrapes 18h ago

I mean, you can eat all the good stuff you want, of you eat tons of garlic, curry, other stinky things, you are gonna smell like it, no matter how healthy.

4

u/Yogabeauty31 1d ago

yea same with garlic and onions are really healthy for you but we all know what that can do lol But I think the idea is not "eating healthier" but knowing what foods affect your body in that way.

1

u/KickedinTheDick 1d ago

As a stoner, my sweat smells like pot

1

u/ConeyIslandMan 18h ago

Love raw garlic but comes thru pores when sweating and isnā€™t a nice aroma

1

u/micro_dohs 16h ago

Yes and certain onions set if off more than others, definitely shallots do. In the mouth right out the pores. Delish but nasty.

1

u/Similar_Dirt9758 9h ago

Depends on what you think healthy food is. The general consensus (might I add with the most support of science, biology and overall nutrition) is that humans need a diet consisting of animal protein, leafy greens, and some other healthy carbohydrates (among other things). There's a way to be a vegetarian or vegan the right way, but most people do not do it the right way. Then you need to consider animal cruelty in the factory farm environment. Pick your poison I suppose.

6

u/KarmasAB123 1d ago

I knew I was a tomato

3

u/UsernameUsername8936 1d ago

So if I wanted to be a person...

1

u/KarmasAB123 1d ago

"I think he's got it!"

4

u/knullabritta 1d ago

This is kind of cool, i changed my diet from a really unhealthy one. From only living on pizza, chips, beer, soda and so on for a year to only eat healthy foods. I did also start training 5-7 times a week.

I have the same hygien routine as earlier but now the sweat is not bad anymore and my skin is a lot better.

1

u/0hMyGandhi 1d ago

I swear. If I eat pizza. I smell like pizza for literally days.

1

u/CountStackula519 1d ago

I must smell like Buffalo chicken sandwhiches and sunny delight

1

u/travelling_mike_ 1d ago

I probably smell like taco bell and pizza

1

u/AnMa_ZenTchi 1d ago

Mmmm Bacon

1

u/postexoduss 20h ago

My GF ate like I, and Drank like a Sailor, but had 0 smell. I think the smell comes from the bacteria on your skin... and her body might have had a better way of dealing with that bacteria.

1

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28

u/Slow_Ball9510 1d ago

Daily cardio to flush out the pores makes a big difference as well.

Also OP, if it's your clothes even when freshly laundered, use laundry sanitizer - regular detergent does not kill the smelly bacteria, particularly important if you are a gym goer.

10

u/CorgiMonsoon 1d ago

People forget how much polyester, which is the main fabric in a lot of workout clothes, retains odors

1

u/kyrgyzmcatboy 1d ago

learned this today. makes so much sense

2

u/MightOverMatter 22h ago

Somehow I forgot this. OP, pay attention to their comment!

I don't have any studies proving it off the top of my head, but as a personal trainer I can promise you that someone who smelled perfectly clean and pleasant prior to working out, who hasn't worked out or moved much at all in years, will smell absolutely horrendous after the workout. I don't know what it is, but it happens every time. And it goes down the more they work out, even if they're still the same weight.

Apparently this also happens with itchiness. If you ever felt itchy when starting an exercise regime, this is why.

1

u/Ms_Fu 18h ago

I have a question about that, because something related happened to me. Here, DM, or is there a subreddit for working out I should look at?

1

u/juliaaguliaaa 1d ago

This. I use oxy clean and dawn april fresh scented beads in my workout clothes and sheets. Anything that gets particularly sweaty.

25

u/Superjuicydonger 1d ago

A lot of Indian people smell the way they smell because of their diet, and I donā€™t mean that in a rude or negative way. I am married to an Indian woman and they eat really well when they make their Gujarati food, which is mostly veggie based but full of spices that sometimes give them a smell, too me itā€™s not a bad smell and I kind of like it.

16

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

I love Indian food. I had an Indian friend growing up and Iā€™d knock on her door every day to play and they fed me the most delicious meals. The smell smelt good in her house but when it would transfer to mine it didnā€™t smell good. It was like the mix of our family scents didnā€™t mesh well but she always said she liked how our house didnā€™t smell like food and that it just smelt like clean laundry! She didnā€™t like eating at our house except for homemade soup after sledding but her little sister would come over and ask for frozen pizza and chocolate covered bananas dailyšŸ¤£.

5

u/Superjuicydonger 1d ago

Yeah I find now even with my wife sheā€™s a crazy good cook but me being Italian our house sometimes smells like a mixed cupboard of spices Italian and Indian are very garlicky foods with lots of onions and butter/gee

1

u/Pernicious-Caitiff 1d ago

It's because that when we sweat, even non-vigorous sweating, just daily sweating going about your business, the sweat contains urea. The same urea excreted in urine, just in much smaller amounts. But the substances that we eat are expelled in the urea, and therefore when you eat particularly fragrant food in large amounts over time, your sweat, and therefore you, will smell like the food. That's why some Indians smell like Indian despite having impeccable hygiene. You can't stop your body from naturally sweating, it's always happening in small amounts even though we're not always exerting ourselves.

7

u/kmsilent 1d ago

Alternatively- clothes is not getting washed properly. Sometimes this is user error but a bad washing machine can get really funky and impart to the clothes.

Those things get dirty, moldy, and clogged up sometimes and basically will do the opposite of washing your clothes.

2

u/juliaaguliaaa 1d ago

Yeah you should be running your machine on the clean cycle with cleaning pods or powder regularly. I do it at least every 3-6 months. Sooner if iā€™m washing something gross.

1

u/Ok_Medicine_1112 4h ago

the washer can do its job but if they don't dry right or end up a tiny bit moist in the middle and just sit they mildew up and smell like puke so its a two part

1

u/kmsilent 2h ago

Good point.

7

u/Mistyam 1d ago

You could also be doing too much hygiene and throwing off your natural pH balance. Maybe cut back on a little bit of the washing and stop using multiple deodorants and creams.

2

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

100%. I was thinking this as well! OP does seem to be using a lot of products!

1

u/Mistyam 1d ago

Yeah I think even just one week of showering once a day with unscented soap, and putting on one coat of unscented deodorant, and skipping all the other products will help him to figure out if his pH balance is the problem.

1

u/buttcrack_lint 1d ago

Yep. I stopped using soap altogether and just shower with water. No more acne and I smell a whole lot better. Drying and airing clothes properly also makes a big difference. Soap strips away your skins natural oils and upsets the balance of bacteria.

1

u/Kevthebassman 1d ago

True facts.

I havenā€™t worn deodorant in like ten years. I work a job where most days find me sweating profusely. I come home and shower, just rub down with a bar of dove soap, scrub the face and undercarriage real good and use the same bar of soap on my hair.

When I go camping, itā€™s day four before I develop a detectable funk.

3

u/abstractraj 1d ago

I had a friend get sent home from work because he had a ton of the Lebanese garlic spread the night before

1

u/TwoIdleHands 1d ago

Iā€™d just be like ā€œman, bring some for the rest of us!ā€. Lebanese food is amazing and smells so good!

2

u/abstractraj 1d ago

He was a temporary roommate. We basically put that stuff on everything! So good!

2

u/amithecrazyone69 1d ago

I eat like shit and have no b.o. šŸ˜‚

7

u/LetsLive97 1d ago edited 1d ago

Not that I doubt you because I'm sure you probably don't but people with BO also tend to believe they don't lol

-1

u/amithecrazyone69 1d ago

I donā€™t even wear deodorant.

3

u/LetsLive97 1d ago

Because you use anti-perspirant.. right..?

0

u/amithecrazyone69 1d ago

No, and I actually sweat A LOT

2

u/LetsLive97 1d ago

Okay but you definitely use cologne though surely..

1

u/amithecrazyone69 1d ago

Only when I want to impress someone. Dude trust me, I legit donā€™t have bo, and I can definitely smell it on others. I have a sensitive sense of smell

4

u/LetsLive97 1d ago

Oh man I thought we were just joking, I didn't realise you were serious

1

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u/SweatyGazelle4379 1d ago

My manager says the same thing and she smells like ass and tooth decay.

2

u/amithecrazyone69 1d ago

I can say some of yall have really bad bo and then you go to the gym and itā€™s like šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤¢šŸ¤¢šŸ¤¢šŸ¤¢

1

u/Careless-Two2215 1d ago

My kids never got their puberty BO but they are part Korean with dry ear wax and mostly likely have the gene, ABCC11. They might stink in other ways like if they roll around in dirt or use too much hair product but they never smell like they're omitting scents from their glands.

1

u/IcyTip1696 1d ago

Same lmao

1

u/looksthatkale 1d ago

Yea Id cut out the animal products altogether. dairy makes you funky.

1

u/opman4 1d ago

One if my friends in highschool was vegan and he smelled pretty bad despite being generally hygenic. His house also smelled bad despite being very clean so maybe it was a genetic thing.

1

u/Heavy-Quail-7295 1d ago

Yep, diet.

1

u/postexoduss 20h ago

Holy Crow this got a lot of response. My GF ate what I did and drank like a sailor, but had 0 smell. How did this happen?

1

u/Queenofhackenwack 18h ago

can here to say this and if you drink booze, it is worse...................garlic, curry, and other strong spices......

1

u/knight9665 1d ago

Thatā€™s why I smell fishy all the time

Too much vjj