FoodNutrition

Your Favorite Foods Could Be Causing Body Odor—Here Are the 6 Biggest Offenders

Discover foods that cause body odor according to registered dietitians, and how to deal with it so you aren't wearing the scent all day.

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Photo: Getty Images/<br />Carina König / EyeEm
Updated Nov 17, 2023

Written by 

Emily Laurence

Every body has a natural scent, something that is 100 percent the way it should be. Despite it being the norm to mask your au naturale aroma with deodorant and perfume, chances are that unless you just finished a workout and are sweating through your clothes, you really don’t smell all that bad (objectively speaking, of course). But, if you happen to catch a whiff of yourself, think I can smell myself through my pants, and instinctively crinkle your nose, it could be because of something you ate.

Experts in This Article

Brigitte Zeitlin

registered dietitian and owner of BZ Nutrition

Jenny Beth Kroplin

registered dietitian based in Nashville, TN

There are some foods—even healthy ones—that can cause body odor. Needless to say, this definitely doesn’t mean you should avoid ’em completely; if you do, you’ll be missing out on some great nutrients. However, it’s just something to be aware of so you can take some extra precautions if you feel so inclined to do so. Ahead registered dietitian Jenny Beth Kroplin, RD, reveals six foods that can cause body odor. Plus, her tips on how to deal with it so you can still enjoy eating them without wearing their lingering scent all day long.

6 foods that cause body odor, according to a registered dietitian

1. Allium vegetables

When you think of some of the most essential ingredients in just about every recipe it’s usually some sort of allium. No surprise, considering they’re packed with flavor and can turn virtually any recipe from drab to fab in a pinch. In fact, you just might have some in your crisper or on your countertop right now: the most popular are onions, garlic, leeks, and scallions. But, as much as we love to cook with these ingredients, it’s worth noting that they’re also one of the leading foods that can result in bodily aroma. (Yes, your armpits can smell like onions.) Why? Allium vegetables are one of the main foods high in sulfur.

Much like calcium and potassium, sulfur is an essential nutrient for the human body. “Sulfur is a building block for other compounds in the body, including amino acids and antioxidants, and it helps to build bones and joints, repair DNA, and regulate gene expression. Many sulfur compounds also support conditions such as diabetes, cancer, congestive heart failure, and arthritis,” registered dietitian Kaytee Hadley, MS, RDN, previously shared with Well+Good.

That said, sulfur can influence the way you smell—think the correlation between garlic and body scent. “The allium family contains elevated levels of sulfur-containing compounds that can leach through our pores, bloodstream, and urine, give us bad breath, and combine with bacteria in our sweat for a not-so attractive body odor,” Kroplin says. Yep, these veggies can affect how you smell down to your pee.

Again, the fact that allium vegetables can change the way you smell doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy them. They are full of nutritional benefits, including helping zinc and iron be better absorbed in the body.  Zinc is an important nutrient for keeping the immune system functioning and iron is essential for the production of hemoglobin in blood, which transfers oxygen from the lungs to the tissues. That makes allium vegetables pretty great. You just may want to brush your teeth after eating ’em and swipe on a little extra deodorant. No biggie.

2. Asparagus

While asparagus may not change the way your body smells the way allium veggies can, Kroplin says it does have something in common with them: it’s one of the top foods that make your pee smell, IYKYK. “Asparagus is considered to be a natural diuretic supporting the kidneys and bladder. As the body naturally digests and breaks down the sulfuric compounds in asparagus, asparagusic acid, it can leave the urine smelling just like asparagus,” she says. “Some research points towards two natural chemicals found in asparagus, methanethiol and S-methyl thioester, which through the digestive process can give the urine the sulfurous asparagus odor1.” However, she adds that not everyone who eats asparagus will experience this side effect when they hit the bathroom—you just might be one of the “lucky” ones. (Hi, it’s me.)

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3. Cruciferous vegetables

If you’re recently upped the amount of cruciferous vegetables in your diet (which includes leafy greens, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, to name a few) you may have noticed a change in body odor, or perhaps in your plant-based farts and poops. Guess why? Yep, sulfur once again. Work these veggies into your life without reeling from the sulfur-induced effects by upping your intake slowly. According to registered dietitian Brigitte Zeitlin, RD, cooking them instead of eating them raw can help, too.

4. Strong spices like cumin, cayenne, and horseradish

Spices that add a fiery flavor to your food make this list for a pretty straightforward reason: they can make you sweat. The more you sweat, the more likely you are to smell a little, well, ripe. “Wearing a deodorant made without aluminum [while eating spicy foods] can help neutralize body odor while absorbing sweat,” Keplin says on how to deal with the body odor strong spices can cause. “This is better than using an antiperspirant which reduces how much you sweat. The body needs to sweat!” she says. And once you’ve had a chance to get the sweat sesh all out, here are some of the best body washes, plus when to shower according to the experts, to feel fresh as ever.

5. Red meat

According to Keplin, red meat is another common food that’s known to cause body odor. While the exact reason for why isn’t known, one older, smaller scientific study that looked into red meat and perspiration showed that meat-eaters had a lower odor attractiveness than non-meat eaters2. Might be time to spruce up on your odor compatibility knowledge.

6. Alcohol

Okay, so this one is technically a drink, not a food, but alcohol can cause body odor. “Alcohol can smell from the breath, pores, and urine,” Keplin says. “The body identifies alcohol as a toxin, so as the alcohol breaks down in the body, it turns into acetic acid. What the body can’t metabolize is excreted in other pathways through a process called oxidation. The oxidation process breaks the toxins down into diacetic acid, carbon dioxide, and water which is eliminated through sweat, urine, and, breathe.” So for the sake of your overall well-being, get out of bed and into the shower the morning after having one too many to wash away that alcohol-induced odor.

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How can I fix my body odor naturally?

Obviously a lot of the foods that can potentially cause body odor are healthy ones—you should eat them! That said, knowing that they may change the way you smell is just good intel to have so you can plan accordingly. And, hey, if you’re enjoying them by yourself, who even cares anyway?

That said, if you are in the market for how to remove body odor naturally there are tons of options. In fact, experts say there’s a right and wrong way to wash your armpits that can make all the difference in how much you smell. The key? Really getting in there with a good antibacterial soap. Plus, resetting the pH levels of your once-stinky pits with an AHA-infused treatment can really help seal the deal. If that doesn’t help, you can also try dermatologist-approved deodorant products with glycolic acid or a affordable, yet effective cleanser featuring benzoyl peroxide that can also prevent smelly pits. Of course, if your odor seems to be falling out of the ordinary, it’s always best to check in with your doctor to ensure your body odor health is in working odor.

A dermatologist shares skincare secrets for combating body odor:

  1. Markt, Sarah C et al. “Sniffing out significant “Pee values”: genome wide association study of asparagus anosmia.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 355 i6071. 13 Dec. 2016, doi:10.1136/bmj.i6071

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  2. Havlicek, Jan, and Pavlina Lenochova. “The effect of meat consumption on body odor attractiveness.” Chemical senses vol. 31,8 (2006): 747-52. doi:10.1093/chemse/bjl017

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FoodNutrition

Hold Up: Is Your Nutrition App Working Against You?

Here are 6 warning signs experts say to watch out for when using nutrition and fitness apps.

High angle shot of fitness young Asian sports woman relaxing after working out, lying on yoga mat and using her smartphone against sunlight in the morning, reusable water bottle and headphones by her side.
Photo: Getty
Published Mar 7, 2025

Written by 

Korin Miller

Fitness and nutrition tracking apps provide an easy way to keep tabs on your health data. But new research suggests that you could accidentally work against your health goals when you use these platforms. 

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The scientific review, which was published in the journal Body Image, analyzed data from 38 studies on fitness and diet apps, along with symptoms people had while using them. The researchers ultimately found that people who used health and fitness apps regularly were more likely to struggle with disordered eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise. 

While it’s hard to say whether the concerning habits or apps came first, mental health professionals aren’t shocked by the findings. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll fall into damaging health habits if you use one of these apps, but this is an important association to at least be aware of, according to Hillary Ammon, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at the Center for Anxiety & Women's Emotional Wellness. 

Below, mental health providers break down why fitness apps can work against your health, plus warning signs that your use is venturing into unhealthy territory.

How are tracking apps working against your health goals?

There are a few things that could be happening here. “We don't necessarily know that diet and fitness apps ‘cause’ symptoms of disordered eating, body image concerns, and compulsive exercise,” says Isabella Anderberg, lead study author and researcher at Flinders University. Meaning, it’s entirely possible that people who already have concerns around eating and body image are drawn to the apps as a way to manage this, Anderberg says. 

But some apps can also create an environment that can be stressful, says Rebecca Boswell, PhD, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and director of psychiatric services at Penn Medicine. “Diet and fitness apps set rules about how people should and should not eat and exercise,” she points out. “They are designed to provide praise for eating less and punishment for eating more.” Boswell also notes that these apps are also designed to encourage activity to compensate for eating.

Certain apps also offer guidelines that can be customized without flagging goals that aren’t medically or nutritionally sound, Boswell says. “Apps often default to very low-calorie recommendations, e.g. 1,200 calories, the recommended intake for a toddler, and do not raise flags when people lower their ‘budgets,’” she says. “They rarely focus on the quality, balance, and nutritional density of foods.”

These apps tend to center around numbers and setting goals, which can be “unhelpful” for some people, Ammon says. Some even contain images that push thinness as an ideal body type, which excludes the rest of the population, she adds. 

Who does this impact? 

Again, plenty of people use fitness and wellness apps with no issue, and the link between problematic health behaviors and this tech is still being explored. But certain people may be more susceptible to developing unhealthy behaviors while using fitness apps than others. 

People with a previous history of disordered eating or body image concerns should probably steer clear of these apps, Ammon says. “This is because these apps can bring greater focus to their eating habits, caloric intake, and weight,” she explains. “Individuals with disordered habits tend to track caloric intake or caloric deficits, as a means of controlling weight [and] these apps can enhance those tracking habits with real time metrics and reminders.”

People who have struggled with overtraining in the past may also be at risk of using these apps in an unhealthy way, says Eric Storch, PhD, professor and vice chair of psychology at Baylor College of Medicine. 

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But even if you don’t have a history of disordered behavior around food or exercise, Ammon says it’s still a good idea to keep an eye on how you react to fitness and health apps—especially if you tend to be very goal-oriented or have a type A personality. Boswell agrees. “People who are prone to perfectionism may have a harder time flexibly using these apps, especially because of their greater sensitivity to reward and punishment,” she says. “It’s very hard for some people to get feedback that they’re not getting an A+ in health behaviors, even when the healthier behaviors might be striking a balance and setting more moderate goals.”

What are the signs your app isn’t helping?

There are a few clues that your app isn’t being a positive force in your life.

  1. 1.
    Being rigid around your app is a big red flag. “When you start to seem like you ‘have to’ work out daily or ‘have to’ track every single calorie ingested or burned, it may be teetering with an unhelpful focus on these habits,” Ammon says. 
  2. 2.
    Feeling frazzled about not meeting certain goals can also be a warning sign that something is off, she says. “If you notice yourself getting anxious or distressed because you didn’t hit your move goal for a day, it may be worth exploring why you need to hit that goal daily,” Ammon says. 
  3. 3.
    Guilt is also an emotion to be wary of, Anderberg says. Meaning, while it’s OK to feel a little disappointed that you didn’t make a goal on any given day, you shouldn’t feel guilty about it.
  4. 4.
    This is more indirect, but is still important: Boswell recommends keeping tabs on your internal monologue when using these apps. “If you can’t stop thinking about food or activity, it’s time to take a break and listen to your body instead of an app,” she says. 
  5. 5.
    Negative lifestyle impact is also a big warning sign that this isn’t a good fit for you, according to Ammon. She cites examples like staying up late to burn 500 calories before the end of the day because you feel pressure to, or cancelling plans with friends because you feel like you need to fit in a workout that day as being problematic. 

How to use an app in a productive, healthy way

Ammon points out that there are risks and rewards to practically every decision you make in life, including using health and fitness apps. “Rewards can be an improved lifestyle and improved physical health,” she says. “For many, these apps can act as an accountability system with virtual rewards.” Focusing on the positive—as in, you’re doing the best you can to support your health and wellness—is a productive way to view these apps, she says. 

Storch also recommends trying to be flexible in how you use these apps, looking at them as more of a guide than what you have to do on any given day. “Approach these apps as a tool to achieve goals, but ones that should be used flexibly versus rigidly, and without angst motivating their use,” he says. 

Of course, if you start using an app and you find that you don’t have a good relationship with it, it’s OK to stop. “It’s important to approach them with some level of caution,” Boswell says. “However, not everyone will have a negative experience with diet and fitness apps, and some might find them to be a helpful tool.”

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