BBC Pidgin of Friday, 11 August 2023

Source: BBC

Some foods wey fit give you beta body odour

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We know say wen we dey feel heat we dey sweat well well. Na di way wey our body dey use keep e sef cool.

Evri drop of sweat wey come out from our skin dey help lower our temperature.

But as iportant as e be, dis process sometimes dey come wit bad smell wey be di side effect.

Yes, na bad smell wey pipo sabi as body odour wey dey tok about.

Evribody dey smell differently wen dem sweat: some pipo own good sake of say you no go perceive di bad smell, while odas own strong well well.

Professor Johan Lundström of di Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm don do plenti research on odours and aromas.

Im point out say di smell of our sweat depends on many different tins.

"Our body odours originate from a combination of compounds wey different different glands for di body dey bring out.

E depend on di type of genes, di bacterial population of our body (wey tins like cleanliness and genetics) and di environment (humidity, temperature, air and pressure).

"And finally, wetin we eat fit also have get important role to play."

So, along wit more obvious factors like genetics and how clean we dey, di food we dey chop put for our body fit play a key role on how our sweat go smell.

Food wey dey change our body odour

We no know di exact extenwey food fit affect di odour wey dey come out from our body wen we sweat.

"As far as I know, dem neva formally evaluate am," Lundström tok.

But we know say some foods dey most likely influence body odour.

"Pipo wey dey chop plenti meat dey likely to generally smell 'worse' dan di pipo wey dey chop mainly plant-based diet.

"Also, as e dey obvious to most, pesin wey like to chop garlic go probably get stronger odour wen im sweat," im tok.

Asparagus and various spices fit also influence our natural aroma. But wetin be dis specific ingredients wey fit make pesin sweat change?

"Basically, dem contain chemicals wey dey mix wit di bloodstream. From dia, dem go come out from di body as sweat.

"Most of di tins wey enta di bloodstream dey come out thru one way or di oda thru our body odour.

So, for example, garlic and meat get plenti sulphur wey, once you chop am, e dey come out thru various channels, including sweat.

And to get a more attractive smell?

While research on specific foods wey fit make your sweat smell sweet dey little, some studies show say diets dey most likely to result to a more "attractive" sweat odour.

One of such experiment happun for Macquarie University in Australia.

Di 43 male participants wash only wit water before dem wear cotton T-shirts, dem no wear perfume or body spray(no deodorant dey allowed).

Dem wear di T-shirts for 48 hours, including one hour of exercise to stimulate di sweat glands, before dem send dem off for di smell test.

Di result?

Di result show say men wey chop plenti fruit and vegetables dey "significantly associated wit beta pleasant-smelling sweat (wey get more floral, fruity, sweet and medicinal qualities), even though dem dey sweat well well".

Di men wey chop fat, meat, egg and tofu also smell well small.

However, di pipo wey chop plenti carbohydrate get 'stronger and less pleasant sweat'.

For anoda study on di attractiveness of men's sweat, 17 men follow a diet wey get plenti red meat or one wey contain no meat at all.

Dem collect dia sweat samples afta two weeks.

One month later, dem repeat di experiment and all participants switch to di alternative diet.

Finally, a group of 30 women evaluate di sweat in terms of how pleasant, attractive and masculine dem be.

Dem find out say di men sweat dey consistently more pleasant wen dem bin dey follow di meat-free diet.

"Donors' odour wen dem dey on di meat-free diet dey significantly more attractive, more pleasant and less intense.

Dis show say di red to chop red meat get negative impact on di hedonicity of perceived body odour."

As e dey always be di case for scientific studies, research wey involve women, female participants no plenti.

However, one small study highlight di sweat of three women wey dem analyse before, during and after 'full calorie restriction', di men find out say di women sweat dey more favourable once dem start to chop again and less pleasurable during di time of calorie restriction.

So e dey worth changing your diet to improve your body odour?

Instead of eating specific foods to try to improve am, Lundström say logically, e dey "easier to use deodorants and perfumes".

Moreover, im seriously point out say even if you dey "smell well well", dem fit no always see am as a bad tin.

"Differences dey between kontris as to di body odours wey dey acceptable or not. And even more variation come from di context wey dem dey look body odour from.

"For example, dem dey see body odour for gym or in bed wit pesin wey you love very differently dan if di same odour dey experienced in a context wia cleanliness dey particularly valued, such as wen you dey sit down next to a stranger for bus.

"Besides, a potential partner go like your natural body odour!

In fact, na one way of assessing your compatibility wit someone.