Most of us have grown up believing that body odor is caused by things  like sweat, bacteria, food and not taking a proper bath.  Taking care of business in these areas should, for the most part, curb any odor issues that you might experience during the day.  What if you found out that  body odor (or lack thereof) is something that you were born with?   Sounds a bit strange, but fact just may be closer to truth than fiction.

Scientist is the UK have recently discovered what they are  calling the body odor gene; labeled ABCC11.  It is thought to be a root  cause of body odor in people.  They believe that around 2 percent of the population are born without it.  The presence of ABCC11 is determined  based on ear wax consistency of all things.  They found that people  without the gene had dry, flaky ear wax as opposed to wet ear wax.  

This does not necessarily mean that people who don't have  the ABCC11 gene don't have any body odor issues.  As was previously mentioned, things like bacteria and sweat account for body odor and they are
just as susceptible to that as anyone else.  However, it does point to the fact that body odor is caused from internal factors as well.  

In fact, the study noted that of the 2% of people who did not have the ABCC11 gene present, 3/4 of them still used deodorant. 

Because they occur on the inside of the body, traditional deodorant  products are unlikely to have much effect.  Internal deodorant alternatives like chlorophyll supplements are probably more effective as a
deodorant since they work to neutralize odor compounds from the  inside.

Well according to some, it can.  However is this true; does eating more  red meat cause a person to have stronger body odor?  A popular health  website wrote an article that said meat is the number one cause of body  odor, it causes stagnation in the body, it putrefies in the gut and it  releases all sorts of toxins into the system.  These toxins get released from our sweat and cause us to smell unpleasant. 

Those are some extraordinary claims, and most of them are  not true.  Meat does not cause stagnation nor does it putrefy in the  body.  It also does not release toxins, but it does release many  different types of compounds as it gets digested.  We'll get into that  more later.

An experiment was conducted involving a group of men.  They were divided into two groups; the first group was given a heavy meat  diet, while the other was given no meat.  Strict guidelines were put in  place that limited consumption of things like garlic, alcohol and  various other foods known to affect odor.  At the end the of the  experiment, odor samples were collected using cotton pads.  Women were asked to rate the smell from the pads.  The results showed that there  was no distinguishable difference between the two groups.

That being said, there are reasons as to why eating large  amounts of meat can cause body odor.  Meat contains high amounts of  sulfides.  They get released from meat as it is digested in the body.   They get absorbed into the system and can be secreted through sweat and  the skin.  In addition, meat also
contains carnitine and choline.  These compounds in part get metabolized into various by products; one of them is trimethylamine.  Trimethylamine is known to have a very pungent  fishy odor.  For these reasons, bad breath and stinky feet can also be a problem in addition to body odor.

For the most part this is not a problem, however when large amounts are consumed frequently, it causes excess amounts of these  compounds to be present in the body.  This is often a case for people  are low carb diets.  

In short, normal amounts of meat in the diet is perfectly  normal and fine.  In fact, meat provides many nutritional benefits as well as being extremely delicious.  However, as with anything in life, moderation is key.  Over indulgence can very well lead to an increase in body odor.