Protein breaks down into amino acids, which the body converts into ammonia. The body then releases this ammonia through urine and sweat, which may produce an odor. Dehydration can also make the sweat smell like ammonia. This is because the body needs water to get rid of ammonia through sweat.
Sweat itself doesn't smell, but when the bacteria on your skin mix with your sweat, it causes an odor. Body odor can smell sweet, sour, tangy or like onions. The amount you sweat doesn't necessarily impact your body odor. That's why a person can have an unpleasant body odor but not be sweaty.
Both male and female sweat feature 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, but they're not present in equal amounts. The former is the cheesy fragrance that is more abundant in male armpits, while the latter oniony smell is dominant in females.
Excessive sweating is one of the main reasons for an ammonia smell in nose. Sweat in itself has no smell, but when it is exposed to bacteria on the skin, it can develop a foul odor. This is mostly due to bacterial digestion of apocrine sweat.
The big takeaway here is that ammonia-scented sweat is not normal or healthy. “If you're smelling ammonia in sweat, something's wrong,” Maharam says. Both he and Roberts agree you need to add more carbohydrates to your diet.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is one possible cause of having an ammonia taste in your mouth, sometimes called “ammonia breath.” Some people describe ammonia breath as having a metallic taste, while others have reported that it smells similar to urine.
Sweat consists primarily of water (90% by volume), with 1-3% salt and 0.5-2% urea. Your sweat also contains glycerol, ammonia, lactic acid and other trace elements. In contrast, urine consists primarily of water (95-96% by volume), with 2-7% salt, 1.8% urea and 0.3% uric acid.
Before washing your urine-stained clothing item with a laundry detergent, you can try soaking it in a sink or tub with a mixture of baking soda and warm water—although, in most cases just washing it with a high-quality detergent like Tide will suffice.
Take deodorizing tablets or Vitamin C.
Internally deodorizing incontinence products like Derifil and Nullo will help neutralize the smell of urine. Vitamin C tablets also are great at deodorizing urine, but can interact with other medications or therapies you are using.
Vaginal odor can be caused by diet, sweating, menstruation, or pregnancy. It can sometimes also be caused by infections like bacterial vaginosis or trichomoniasis.
Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is an uncommon condition that causes an unpleasant, fishy smell. It's also called "fish odour syndrome". Sometimes it's caused by faulty genes that a person inherits from their parents, but this isn't always the case. There's currently no cure, but there are things that can help.
BODY ODOR: FRUITY BREATH IS A SYMPTOM OF DIABETES
D., chief medical officer at the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. People with type 1 diabetes generally experience it more than those with type 2 diabetes do.
The sweat from apocrine glands contains protein. Bacteria break down this protein, which can produce a distinct odor. Excess sweat around the groin area may also cause itching and can sometimes lead to infections, such as bacterial vaginosis and vaginal yeast infections.
The menopausal drop in estrogen also leaves our bodies with relatively higher levels of testosterone — produced by our ovaries in small amounts — than before. This can attract more bacteria to sweat, making it smell funkier.
When you experience a sudden change in body odor (BO), it's easy to put all the blame on your sweat. However, sweat itself is odorless. The unpleasant smell actually comes from bacteria breaking down proteins in your sweat. If you have an abundance of “bad bacteria” living on your skin, this can cause you to smell bad.
So, the reason stress sweat smells worse than other sweat is because different glands react to stress than react to heat and exertion. These glands produce a kind of sweat that is full of food for bacteria, and bacterial growth leads to odor.
Trimethylaminuria is a disorder in which the body is unable to break down trimethylamine, a chemical compound that has a pungent odor. Trimethylamine has been described as smelling like rotten or decaying fish.
If your house smells like urine, and you've taught your young sons to aim into the toilet, not around it, you might have a pest problem, a plumbing problem, or a mold problem. Malfunctioning electrical wires might also cause a urine-like odor.
When your kidneys are failing, a high concentration and accumulation of substances lead to brown, red, or purple urine. Studies suggest the urine color is due to abnormal protein or sugar as well as high numbers of cellular casts and red and white blood cells.