Perspiration odors, bad breath, foot and hand odors… Body odors are considered bothersome, and we do everything to get rid of them. If traditional deodorants and antiperspirants are popular, some home remedies can help you fight against bad odors produced by your body.
Home remedies for bad breath
Bad breath , also known as halitosis, is a taboo subject. The people concerned do not dare to talk to their doctor about it and yet, bad breath affects more than 25% of the population at one time or another of the day and sometimes it becomes a real social handicap.
There are tricks to temporarily mask this bad smell. Our grandmothers, for example, chewed fresh parsley, gently, for 10 to 15 minutes. If you don’t like parsley, you can also chew on a coffee bean or a clove, the strong flavors of these foods will cover up bad breath. On the other hand, these remedies will not treat the cause of the bad smell, it is only a symptomatic treatment.
Treating the Causes of Bad Breath
Before finding the solution, you have to find the cause. Bad breath can have multiple origins , it can be due to an affection of the digestive or respiratory tracts, or to a pulmonary problem, it is thus necessary to consult to determine it. The most frequent cause is of oral origin. In the mouth, bacteria feed on protein. And by consuming them, they will release volatile sulfur compounds, which cause bad odors.
These bacteria hide between the teeth, at the back of the tongue … And to eliminate them gradually, the best weapon remains the toothbrush: three times a day, for three minutes, following the instructions of your dentist.
What about the effectiveness of baking soda?
There is a real lack of studies on the issue, some dentists recommend it, others are skeptical about its effectiveness. On bad breath, a priori baking soda has no beneficial effect. In any case, if you use it, you have to take it once a week maximum because the little “beads” will polish your teeth. Baking soda should therefore be used in moderation.
Fight sweat odors
Sweating is normal. Sweat is a production of the skin which allows excess water to be expelled from the body and to avoid overheating. By evaporating, the excess heat is eliminated and the released sweat will become the ideal food for the microscopic bacteria which are on the skin. And it is by consuming sweat that bacteria produce odorous chemical compounds that are responsible for bad smells. To remedy this, we will use sage. Sage has been considered since Antiquity as a plant with exceptional medicinal properties. Its Latin name salvia comes from salvare, which means “to save, to heal”. In the case of transpiration, it is the leaves that are of interest.
First, grind the dried sage leaves into a powder using a mortar. Add a tablespoon of talc, the proportions are about two-thirds, one-third. Mix and apply the preparation directly to the armpits. Sage leaves eliminate perspiration thanks to their composition of essential oils that paralyze the nerve endings of the sweat glands, the glands that generate sweat. The talc will absorb moisture.
No need to use this remedy every day, save it for your romantic dates, because perspiration is an essential natural phenomenon.
Fight bad foot odor
You can also apply the sage leaf preparation from time to time before putting on your shoes in the morning. You can also take foot baths, which are very effective against excessive perspiration. In Brittany, it was customary to make foot baths with cider vinegar, but you can make foot baths with crushed mustard seeds or with salt and wine vinegar. Wine vinegar smells very strong but it has antiseptic and deodorant properties for several hours. These preparations will not affect the sweating process but they will help mask odors.
There are other tricks to combat bad foot odor. For example, you can put maritime pine needles in your sneakers to deodorize them, or even place a bouquet of sage leaves in your socks overnight to limit sweating problems the next day.
Get rid of stubborn odors on your hands
After cooking garlic, fish or onion, rub your hands with coffee grounds or fresh parsley, this will reduce the unpleasant smell. You can also rub your hands with a freshly cut raw potato. The starch molecules present in the potato absorb and neutralize the product whose odor we are trying to remove.
And above all, more generally, do not sink into “bromophobia”, that is to say the obsession with body odor. We all give off odors, it’s natural.