Abnormal body odor, medically known as bromhidrosis, is an offensive, excessive, or changed smell from the skin, usually caused by bacteria breaking down sweat, but can signal underlying issues like diabetes (fruity), kidney/liver disease (ammonia/musty), or metabolic disorders (fishy), sometimes triggered by diet, medication, or stress, requiring a doctor's visit if sudden, severe, or disruptive.
Trimethylaminuria (TMAU) is a rare disorder in which the body is not able to metabolize the chemical trimethylamine, and this causes body odor.
Kids start to have body odor around the time puberty starts and hormones change. Usually, this happens when females are 8–13 years old, and males are 9–14. But it can also be normal to start puberty earlier or later. Bathing every day, especially after a lot of sweating or in hot weather, can help with body odor.
Apocrine glands, located in areas like the armpits and groin, secrete a thicker fluid that, when broken down by bacteria on the skin, can produce a strong odour. One of the most common causes of smelly armpits in the breakdown of this sweat by bacteria.
Without enough B12, your metabolism can slow down, leading to more odor-causing byproducts being released through your sweat. Plus, B12 helps maintain healthy skin, which acts as a barrier to bacteria that cause bad smells. You can find B12 in foods like meat, eggs, and dairy, or through supplements.
A change in your body odor or how much you sweat can signal a health problem. The medical condition of sweating too much is called hyperhidrosis. For sweating and body odor that isn't caused by a health problem, self-care habits often can help ease the symptoms.
Your body needs magnesium to function normally. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include low appetite, nausea or vomiting, muscle spasms or tremors and abnormal heart rhythms. A blood test or urine test can be used to diagnose magnesium deficiency. Magnesium deficiency is usually treated with supplements.
The hormonal imbalance that comes with menopause can also affect your sweat glands. When your oestrogen takes a dip, your body can start to produce more sebum – that's the oily stuff on your skin. This change, combined with other symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats, can really amplify that body odour issue.
If you notice a significant difference in your body odor, talk with a medical professional. Infection: Certain infections, such as bacterial or fungal infections of the skin can cause a foul odor. These infections can disrupt the normal balance of bacteria on the skin, leading to a strong, unpleasant smell.
Diabetes can cause sweat to smell sweet, fruity, or like nail polish remover due to high ketone levels from uncontrolled blood sugar (diabetic ketoacidosis or DKA), a serious complication requiring immediate medical attention, often accompanied by excessive thirst, urination, weakness, nausea, or confusion. In some cases, uncontrolled diabetes might also lead to sweat smelling like ammonia, especially with kidney issues, or cause increased sweating.
Sweating is the secretion of fluids by sweat glands onto your skin's surface. There are two types of sweat glands: eccrine and apocrine. Apocrine glands are responsible for producing body odor.
Your child's hormones are changing, which stimulates their glands and increases perspiration, especially in the underarm and groin areas. That increase in perspiration combines with the bacteria that live on the skin creating the odor. To be clear, we all have bacteria that live on our skin.
Causes of body odour
Trimethylaminuria is a disorder in which the body is unable to break down trimethylamine, a chemical compound that has a pungent odor.
Patients with an unpleasant body odor often consult dermatologists. A dermatologist needs to become familiar with the occurrence and significance of medically related odors.
Symptoms and Signs of Olfactory Reference Disorder
Patients with olfactory reference disorder are preoccupied, usually for many hours a day, with the distressing or impairing belief that they emit 1 or more foul or offensive body odors, which are not perceived by others or are actually only slight (1, 2).
A person with kidney failure may have breath that smells like ammonia or urine. Serious liver disease can make breath smell musty or like garlic and rotten eggs. Compounds that are transported through the blood can also be released through your sweat glands. That can make your armpits and skin smell bad.
Different categorizations of primary odors have been proposed, including the following, which identifies 7 primary odors:
Therefore, perhaps a lack of vitamin D leads to neurological decline of the central and peripheral nervous system, including the cranial nerves, leading to reduced olfaction. The issue of reduced olfaction with vitamin D deficiency is not just an issue of mechanistic interest.
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.
Hormone imbalance symptoms that affect your metabolism
While gradual changes in body odor are typically normal, sudden or intense shifts may indicate an underlying health issue. Conditions like diabetes, thyroid disorders, or infections can sometimes cause a change in odor, so it's important to consult a healthcare professional if you have concerns.
Common causes of low magnesium include:
For drinks high in magnesium, opt for mineral waters, fruit juices (especially orange, cherry, watermelon), plant-based milks (soy, almond), and homemade concoctions using raw cacao, coconut milk, or magnesium powders mixed with water or smoothies, with hot chocolate (made with raw cacao) and herbal teas (like nettle) also being good choices.
You can conveniently measure your serum magnesium levels with our at-home Magnesium Blood Test kit. You'll receive everything you need to take a blood sample using a finger prick test kit and return your sample to our lab, to receive your result within 2 working days.