There was actually an interesting study done in 2006 that found a potential correlation between the consumption of red meat and the existence of body odor. However, it was a very basic study that used college students as subjects and didn’t take into consideration their lifestyle, toxic load, or digestive health.

Based on my individual needs, I personally eat about 2 pounds of pasture raised meat per day, and although I do get body odor if I don’t wear deodorant, it’s insignificant. It’s certainly less significant than when I used to eat less meat and more processed junk. What’s most important is that I feel better than ever on this diet, and as I mentioned in the article, I think there are other factors contributing to the small amount of body odor that I sometimes get.

Dr. Mercola, who also supports the idea of nutritional individuality and uses his own variation of Metabolic Typing, is also a “protein type” and eats a lot of meat. In some of his articles, he’s claimed that he wears no deodorant at all and has no issues with body odor.

Although I think there are a variety of factors that could lead to meat consumption resulting in an increase of body odor, I don’t think it’s justified to say that eating meat is unhealthy based on this. (I’m not insinuating that anybody here has suggested this, but am just concluding my thoughts.)

If anyone else knows of any other information relating to this topic, please feel free to share it!

Having been on the vegetarian side for 2 years, and the primal/paleo side as well, while we all have our “agendas”, the vegetarian side can be driven strongly by ideology and you get a lot of these myths that are easy to believe if you don’t think past the proposition (meat rotting in our intestines, for example).

I haven’t really found much information about the biology of BO, then again I haven’t looked very hard. So if it’s bacterial and fungal growth, how could eating greater than 95% fat and protein be worse than ingesting tons of sugars that are easy for the bacteria to use to reproduce?

Tina – Thanks for pointing that out! I never even considered the spray and will have to give it a try.

FYI: To avoid the problem you’ve had with the Crystal Deodorant … it does come in a spray as well!

Penelope – Anything that you put on your skin, in your mouth, or breathe in can potentially be dangerous, especially with all the chemicals that have become such a common part of modern life. However, don’t let it cause panic. Just be aware of what you might be exposing yourself to and do your best to avoid the unnecessary use of unnatural chemicals.

Stargaterich – Yes, it’s unfortunate that few people realize how toxic our world has become. With or without product labeling, we can all help to spread awareness by telling others about the risks of unnatural personal care products.

ægil – That’s great! Hopefully you’ll never need to!

Amit – Essential oils are indeed another option for deodorant, but my experience with them is limited. I plan on doing a follow up to this article that goes more into depth about natural deodorant solutions including the homemade deodorant that I’m presently using. I’ll be sure to do some research on essential oils so that I can include them in the article.

Has anyone tried using oils and turning them into your own concoctions? I remember a friend of mine many years ago used to use lavendar water.

Fab post!