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Why Does Sweat Smell Bad After Certain Activities?

sweat

We all sweat. Sometimes, your sweat has a horrific stench post-workout as compared to your sweat during normal hours. Have you ever experienced this and wondered why? Truth be told, your sweat has no smell. So where does the smell come from? Well, there is a scientific reason behind it!

The horrific stench after a workout comes from bacteria that live on your skin. These bacteria break down the components of sweat resulting in smell.

What is the Smell About?

Your sweat comprises of water in large amounts along with trace minerals, fatty acids and skin cells that your body sheds. Your bacteria break these down further causing odour.

There is an endorphin (This is a hormone which is produced during exercise to ease your pain and make you calm and happy!) rush when you exercise which leads to a lot of perspiration or sweating. When you work out, your body produces cortisol along with endorphins which are hormones that affect the sweat glands on our skin.

There are two types of sweat glands which are eccrine glands and apocrine glands. Sweat glands in the armpits, groin and other smelly areas are called apocrine glands which produces a pheromone-like substance that provides energy for skin bacteria and leads to the horrific stench. Whereas eccrine glands are all over the body and don’t cause extreme sweating as compared to apocrine glands.

Why Does Everybody Sweat Differently?

You might have noticed that sweating levels are different for everybody. Why does this happen?

Factors which affect the rate of sweating:

  1. Environment/Weather/Climate: Our body needs to maintain the normal temperature irrespective of climatic conditions. Body, has its own thermostat and how much you sweat completely depends on how your body is trying to cope with the weather change.
  2. Your Fitness Levels Matter: The more you workout, the more you sweat. Your body tries to cool your body temperature so that you are ready to make the workout more intense!
  3. Genes: Apart from the temperature regulation, some people tend to sweat more than others due to their genetics (somethings cannot be changed).
  4. Could be a Medical Condition: Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively. Body tends to work hard to maintain the usual thermostat

5 Ways to Deal with Smelly Sweat: 

  1. Maintain Hygiene: It is important to wash the smelly areas frequently especially post-exercise. Washing these areas will help you in removing the dead cells from the skin, keep the skin healthy and reduce the smell eventually.
  2. Use deodorants and antiperspirants to keep underarms stench free!
  3. Wear Proper Clothes During Workout: Prefer sweat-absorbing workout clothes. Go for material which lets the body breathe rather than trapping the sweat instead leading to excessive sweat
  4. If the sweating is excessive, see a dermatologist.
  5. Work on your Diet: Certain food items are responsible for smelly sweat. Onions, garlic, cauliflower, alcohol, and coffee can lead to excessive sweating. Cutting back on these can help you with the reduced smell from the sweat

Home Remedies to Manage Smelly Sweat 

  1. Wheatgrass Juice: It works as an excellent detoxifier. Try 1 tbsp of wheatgrass juice with water early in the morning on an empty stomach for 2 weeks and then once every alternate day for 3 months.
  2. Baking Soda: It works as a natural water-absorbing agent. Mix 2 tbsp of baking soda with water and apply it on the underarms for 30 minutes. Please do not keep it beyond 30 mins. It might act as an irritant for your skin. Wash it with ice cold water and apply 2 drops of glycerin as a natural toner.
  3. Potato/Potato Juice: It acts as a quick water-absorbing agent which works as an antiperspirant. Cut Potato into thin slices, keep it in the refrigerator for 10 minutes and rub it on armpits. This will work as a quick antiperspirant.
  4. Apple Cider Vinegar: It has astringent properties. If you suffer from excessive sweating, take 1 tsp of apple cider vinegar with mother culture early in the morning on an empty stomach.
  5. Lemon: Citrus fruits work as natural deodorants. You can apply fresh lemon juice on your armpits and wash it after 45 minutes. You can try doing this every day to get best results.
  6. Black Cohosh: Research has shown that supplementing your diet with 80mg of Black Cohosh helps in reducing overall excessive sweating and hot flashes.

Now that you know everything you need to about sweat and body odour, you can take the necessary measures and be odour-free!

Was this article helpful? Would you like to know more? Let us know in the comments below!

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Tips to protect yourself from allergic conjunctivitis this monsoon

conjunctivitis this monsoon

I guess I am late! Rains are already here and we can’t just ignore getting drenched in heavy rains. But, getting drenched in the rains might not be a good thing for your body. Monsoon not only brings with it rains but it brings along with it an army of infections. Viral infections are the most common ones. They are at its peak during monsoon season because of the sudden increase in the moisture levels in the climate. Among all infection, eyes are the worst affected part of the human body.

You might have suffered from itchy eyes which turns red the moment you rub it? Do not ignore it as it could be conjunctivitis. Conjunctivitis in literal terms means inflammation of conjunctiva (thin protective membrane of the eyes) Conjunctivitis is of two types: – acute allergic conjunctivitis and chronic acute conjunctivitis. Acute allergic conjunctivitis includes the seasonal allergy which turns up during monsoons. Conjunctivitis spreads through direct contact. Hand to eye touch can cause conjunctivitis, as this disease is highly contagious. It can last for minimum 3 days up to 7 days.

Redness always doesn’t mean conjunctivitis, there are various other reasons that can cause redness or itchy eyes. It might be dust or too much strain on the eyes or insomnia which might cause redness of the eyes. Do not confuse yourself between these reasons and conjunctivitis. It is always advisable that if you face redness, itchiness, watery eyes, swelling, difficulty in blinking, dry eyes for more than 2 days then visit your ophthalmologists as soon as possible. It might be allergic conjunctivitis or some other disease, it is always better to get it checked from the expert.

Here are few tips to protect yourself from conjunctivitis this monsoon!

  • Maintaining personal hygiene is most important precaution which one needs to take.
  • Avoid touching your eyes without washing your hands properly.
  • Wash your eyes with cold water whenever you come from outside.
  • If you feel that there is slightest pain in your eyes or you have been in contact with the person who has conjunctivitis, give your eyes cold compressions immediately after you come home. It is always better if you visit a doctor before the diseases aggravate.
  • If someone at home is down with conjunctivitis make sure that whenever you are putting drops in their eyes or giving them cold water compressions, you wash your hands thoroughly before and after you get in contact with the person.
  • Put 2 drops of rose water every time before you go to bed.
  • If you wear contact lenses, avoid using them during monsoons as the chances of infection is higher with lenses.
  • Do not share cosmetics. Risk of infection doubles when you share them.
  • Avoid swimming, visiting water parks during monsoon, not only conjunctivitis, body gets prone to other diseases too!
  • Avoid touching public taps, handles and if you get in contact with them, always keep a sanitizer and use them frequently.
  • Wear glasses to keep your eyes protected.
  • Avoid self-medication. You do not know about the action of drugs.
  • Never use steroid eye drops. Always consult your doctor.
  • If in case doctor is not available, choose antibiotic drops over steroid eye drops.

Conjunctivitis is not a one-time disease, chances of getting conjunctivitis is endless. So as it is rightly said, Prevention is better than cure!

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Tips to Help You Sleep Better!

sleep better

Sleep! You might have already so many articles about this especially when you’ve not been getting quality sleep. Before we go deeper into how you can sleep better, let us first understand how we define sleep!

As per the world’s sleep research, William Dement (Author of promise of sleep) defines sleep as the ‘Moment when the brain starts producing theta waves’.  

Too technical! What exactly are theta waves? I don’t want to get too technical, so I will talk about medical jargon in the most simplest way possible.

The Brain Produces ‘Waves’ All The Time!

While you are awake (concentrating), your brain produces beta waves. When you are daydreaming, relaxing or lying around, your brain produces alpha waves. While your body is in the transition from relaxing to sleeping, that’s when your brain starts producing theta waves. When your body is in deep sleep, your body produces delta waves. sleep better

During this period, your body starts producing growth hormones. I always tell this to my patients. Your body undergoes repairs when you enter deep sleep which is very crucial for overall well being.

When I was learning more about sleep, the one question that often came to mind was, “How and when do we get dreams?”

After theta waves, there is one interesting thing which happens. It is called as REM Sleep or Rapid Eye Movement Sleep. This is when your eyes are moving with closed eyelids. You might be dreaming but you will not remember your dreams completely the next day.

According to me, these are just basic things about sleep which everyone should be aware of (and with good reason).

Do you ever get a feeling of waking up tired after sleeping for almost 9 hours?

When I ask this question to my patients, they say, “I am tired all the time!”

This is called as Sleep Deprivation.

How Do You Know That You Are Sleep Deprived?

I read a lot! One of the books that I read on sleep is the Promise of Sleep. The book spoke about a very cool way of figuring out if we are sleep deprived or not. Check out the steps below:

  • Go to bed with a spoon in your hand
  • Your hand should be in a position where the spoon is over the floor and not over the bed
  • Note the time when you plan to sleep
  • As soon as you fall asleep, your hand muscles will relax. Once this happens, the spoon will fall on the floor and the noise will wake you up.
  • Note the time when you wake up. That’s your own sleep latency.

There are many other sleep tests which are done as well to figure sleep deprivation out.

Now that we understand what happens when we sleep,

Follow These Tips to Sleep Better

As always, we go back to our basics: Sleep Hygiene

  • Restrict Tea/Coffee/Green Tea and other caffeinated drinks. Caffeine circulates in the system for at least 7.5 hours. Taking caffeinated drinks close to bedtime can mess your sleep schedule.
  • Make sure you create a sunset kind of environment post sunset with yellow dim lights so your body realises that it’s the time for you to relax, rest and sleep. Same thing goes for the gadgets! Blue light from your devices block the sleep hormone production. If you have long screen hours, try using blue blocking glasses post sunset.
  • Make sure that your room temperature is around 19-20. Usually, our body temperature tends to fall when we sleep. This will help you in maintaining an ideal body temperature when you wake up.
  • Try to avoid exercising, watching exciting/horror movies which will keep your mind active for a long period of time.

Apart from the basics,

Try the Sleep Restriction State Method

  • If you think you sleep 4 hours per night, then sleep for 4 hours only
  • Go to bed at 1 AM and set your alarm clock for 6AM. You’re not allowed to go to bed earlier than 1AM, or wake up later than 6AM.
  • You will be tired the following day. Extremely tired! That’s a good thing. You will be wondering, what is good in being tired but this will drive you to sleep earlier the next day
  • The next day, you add ½ hour to the sleep time. You go to bed at 12:30AM instead of 1 AM and wake up at 6AM.
  • Keep increasing your sleep window by ½ hour per day till you feel the sleep debt is paid off.

Why are we doing this? It’s because during this time of the sleep window, you won’t be allowed to use stimulants to keep yourself up. No coffee or any kind of caffeinated beverages. We are doing this so that your body starts building up the fatigue, drowsiness and eventually you will end up sleeping. This will help in recovering your sleep debt.

Sometimes, stiff neck muscles will decrease the blood supply to the brain, which results into fragmented sleep. Getting a physio evaluation for the same will also help in improving sleep quality.

Hope these tips help you sleep better! Do type your thoughts and queries in the comments below!

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Effect of different medications on exercise!

statins (1) (2)

Either you or somebody you know might be on some kind of long term medications! I am not talking about somebody who takes an aspirin or a paracetamol or some antipyretic. When I say long term medications-I am talking about cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar lowering drugs. When a patient usually gets on any of these drugs there are high chances that they are on them forever!

Each one of these medications has a tremendous impact on the body which comes as a blow if you an exercise person!

Every medication has a different set of action, here are some points for you to keep in mind!

(1) Cholesterol medications

statins

  • Most commonly used cholesterol medication is statin.
  • The generic names of these drugs mostly available are Rosuvastatin, Atorvastatin, Fluvastatin, Lovastatin, Pravastatin, Simvastatin, Pitavastatin.

(To check which statin is your medication- check behind the tablet. Salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

  • Statins deplete CoEnzyme Q10 in the body which is very important for muscles to make energy. This will affect your strength training routine. Post strength training recovery will be slow.
  • It might also lead to rhabdomyolysis which means muscle death is definitely not good!

So, what can be done?

  • The first thing which you should always try is getting off statins as soon as possible with some changes in your diet and exercise routine. You can ask your coach to help you with this! (Let your doctor change your medicines and coach can guide the path to that!)
  • While you are on a statin, you should always try a gradual progress. Do not rush into any kind of exercise routine. Give your body enough time to get adapted.
  • Take longer recovery time. Instead of having a 1-day gap between your strength training schedules you can take 2 days gap which will give your muscles more time to recover! You can do light workouts on the day when you don’t plan to do strength training.

(2) Beta blockers

beta blocker

  • This is a group of medications used for lowering down the high blood pressure.
  • Most commonly used beta blockers are atenolol, bisoprolol, propranolol, metroporolol.

(To check which beta blocker is your medication- check behind the tablet. Salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

  • People who are on beta blockers see that their heart rate is always less no matter what form of exercise they do. Maintaining a proper heart rate during different activities is very important for having a good cardiac health.
  • People taking beta blockers witness that their heart rate after a sprint and after a moderate jogging is exactly the same. In fact, this shouldn’t be the case. It has to be more while sprinting than jogging.

So, what can be done?

  • Instead of checking your heart rate for your exercise progress, start checking your exertion timing.
  • If you start panting very soon, note that time. Work on your stamina and then go ahead. Beta blockers will always keep your heart rate low.

(3) ACE inhibitors

pharmacology-of-ace-inhibitors

  • These are another set of medications which are used in the treatment of lowering your high blood pressure!
  • Most commonly used ACE inhibitors are fosinopril, lisinopril, quinapril.

(To check which ACE inhibitor is your medication- check behind the tablet. The salt name is always mentioned. If in case it is not mentioned, check it on company’s site)

  • There are 2 types of people- One who has high blood pressure and is not taking any medication and another one who has high blood pressure and is on either beta blocker or ace inhibitor. If the person without the medication exercises, his blood pressure will come down automatically post exercise. This is called as post exercise hypotension.
  • This even happens with someone who is a blood pressure medication, but then it can go really very low! That’s the reason people feel dizzy, shaky, nauseous, blurred vision post exercise. Sometimes the person can faint as well.

So, what can be done?

  • For obvious reasons, you cannot skip the medications and neither can you skip your workout but you can definitely manage it.
  • For people on BP medications, you should cool down a bit longer than an average person. Instead of a 5-minute cooldown, do a 10-minute cooldown.
  • Your heart beat tracker can help you in this!
  • For example, if your heart rate is 140 beats per minute- Post workout it can drop to 110 which is ok. After another minute it might go further low to 90. Hold on. Breathe it. Stretch yourself. Your targeted heart beat should be only 10% more than your RHR (Resting heart rate) which is around 60-70 beats per minute.

(4) Blood sugar lowering medications

lower blood sugar

  • There are different blood sugar lowering medications which affect the body in different ways.
  • Either they increase the insulin function, or removes excess sugar out through urine or decreases the amount of carbohydrate absorption in the body
  • For a non-diabetic person, while exercising there are different hormonal fluctuation which happens. Adrenaline is released followed by a surge in the cortisol levels and these hormones rise the blood sugar levels. To bring this down, pancreas secretes another hormone called as insulin which brings the elevated sugars down. So, the fluctuation is not seen whereas this is not the case in people with diabetes.
  • Some medications can cause hypoglycemia (Blood sugars below 70) in diabetics.

    So, what can be done?

  • Well, in this case, nothing much can be done apart from monitoring.
  • Check your blood sugar levels before exercising, middle of the exercise and after the workout gets over.
  • Keep half glass of fruit juice or 1 glass of milk always with you and if the sugar drops please consume either of this.
  • Do strength training, reduce your carbohydrates, add enough proteins to your routine and ask your doctor to reduce your medications!

Questions for me? Please drop in the comments below!

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