There was a television commercial that I saw recently that promoted the  idea that their product didn't contain a chemical called triclosan.  I  don't remember if it was Crest or Colgate or whatever, but the triclosan part stuck in
my mind.  After researching and knowing about natural  products and things to avoid, triclosan is one of those chemicals listed as being potentially harmful.

I find it interesting because the effects of triclosan and  it's presence in may hygienic products have been know
for many years.   The FDA even maintains that products that use these chemicals are  perfectly safe to use and consumers should not have any worries.  Why  then would a big company spend millions of dollars on advertising that  their product does not contain it?  Do they know something we don't?   Perhaps it's a simple marketing ploy designed to target the very fears  when in reality... there isn't really anything to be afraid of. 

A similar issue has occurred with aluminum and deodorants.  Studies came out that were linking the use of underarm deodorants and  aluminum with possible breast cancer development.  A scary thought to  say the least, but the FDA maintains that there is no risk.  That still  hasn't stopped the use of aluminum free deodorant products to sky rocket over the last decade or so.  Whether true or not, people are motivated  by fear and big companies prey on that emotion.  Prey is a bad word, but they do exploit it to a certain degree.  

Whatever the reason, I personally am glad that they did  this.  It brings a greater awareness to chemicals used in many common  products and I believe people will search out information and learn  about things when it pertains to their health.  First aluminum in  deodorants and now triclosan in toothpaste.  What's next, parabens in  shampoo?  One could only hope.
 

Body odor is a mysterious thing.  We know everyone has it to a certain degree, but why does it affect some people more than others?  Why are some people more prone to it, what causes it and why can it be so difficult to get rid of?  No doubt we've all asked ourselves these questions at some point.  Today we'll look deeper into body odor causes and why it can affect people differently.  

Body odor is a result of both internal and external factors.    Bacteria that live on the surface of our skin interacts with proteins in sweat, but not just any sweat.  Our bodies have two types of sweat glands, apocrine and eccrine.  Eccrine glands are found over the majority of the body.  The sweat produced from eccrine glands have a high water content is primarily used to cool the body.  Apocrine glands on the other hand produce a thicker, fatty type of sweat.  They are located in specific areas such as the underarms, perianal area, eye lids and the inner ear.  Apocrine sweat contains proteins and lipids, and unlike eccrine sweat is not secreted directly onto the skin.  Rather is first passes through hair folicles and then is released onto the skin. 

Because of the high protein and lipid content of apocrine sweat, this makes it ideal 'food' for bacteria.  As they break down sweat they release odor compounds that cause body odor.   This means that the more a person sweats or the more apocrine sweat glands a person has, the more they are likely to stink.  Interestingly enough, not everyone has the same amount of glands.  For example, people of East Asian descent genetically have fewer aporcrine sweat glands than any other race.  For this reason they are generally less prone to having body odor.

In addition, the amount of hair can influence body odor.  Hair provides a greater area on which bacteria can live.  More bacteria also means more odor compound being produced.

Another cause of body odor is from our diet.  Different foods contain different amounts of compounds, namely sulfides.  Foods high in sulfides include meat, seafood, egg yolk, galric and onions.  As your body digests these foods, the sulfide compounds are absorbed into the body.  They eventually get released through sweat, skin and other openings in the body. 

These compounds are known as volatile sulfur compounds and generally have an odor similar to that of rotting eggs.  They are also a primary cause of bad breath odor as well.