Get rid of body odor naturally by addressing the source

(NaturalNews) There are two things to ask yourself if you have a problem with body odor:

• Am I healthy?
• Am I using the right soap and skin care products?

You may have noticed "Do I shower often enough" was left out. That's because when the body is healthy, showering is about removing dirt and odors from sources other than our body. Objectionable body odor is a result of imbalanced PH, imbalanced hormones, a heavy toxic load, damaging skin care products, and/or imbalanced gut flora.

Health

First, let's talk about health. If you are not healthy or your body is toxic, it will affect your body odor. Vaginal infections can produce a foul odor, and body fluids, including sweat, may give off a foul odor when you are ill, just as sinus infections or infections in the mouth can produce bad breath. If you are healthy, your sweat will not smell foul. It will actually smell good.

Clean up your body from the inside out. Eat a healthy diet that consists of 80% fresh, organic, raw fruits and vegetables. The fiber will cleanse your digestive system, sweeping out old rotting food and debris while working as a prebiotic that helps maintain a high level of beneficial bacteria in the gut. Detox twice a year. Get those chemicals, parasites, and the extra yeast out of your body. (For more information, see the links below.)

Bathing and showering

This is such an individual decision that should be based on need, not someone else's idea of cleanliness. In the U.S. our cultural norm is a daily bath or shower, those some shower morning and night. If you are healthy and you aren't actually dirty, daily showers or baths are not necessary. Some may argue that even with toxin free skin care products, daily washing does more harm than good due to washing away healthy flora that develops on skin and controls body odor. Bathe or shower as often as necessary--not more.

Why you should use organic soap

There are two reasons you should use organic soap. First of all, our skin soaks up most of the chemicals we put on it. When we use conventional products, those chemicals are pulled into our bloodstream. Read the labels on soap scrubs and bar soap and ask yourself if you would want to eat those ingredients, because in a roundabout way, that's exactly what you are doing every time you use them. Secondly, organic soaps are better for your skin and they stop the body odor cycle caused by conventional products.

Our skin is part of the body's first line of defense against pathogens. Not only do we produce natural oils to keep our skin healthy, our skin is host to many beneficial bacterial, just like our gut. Conventional soaps, especially anti-bacterial soaps, are the greatest cause of body odor because they disrupt the body's natural defense against bad bacteria. Conventional , anti-bacterial soaps strip the skin of natural oils and kill the bacteria. The problem is, they kill the beneficial bacteria that naturally keeps the bad bacteria (the smelly bacteria) in check. You bathe, you kill off the good bacteria. You sweat, the bad bacteria start to multiply and there isn't enough good bacteria to keep them in check. You bathe, the cycle continues.

This is the same process we experience with deodorants. Any time we strip natural oils and kill off beneficial bacteria, we set up an unhealthy cycle that merely perpetuates the use of conventional products. We smell worse, we use more and more. This is how they make money.

Organic soaps maintain the natural balance of bacteria on your skin. As the days pass, you will notice that you have less body odor. You will no longer need to use deodorant. You just don't smell bad anymore. You may find that you only need to bathe every other day, every three days, or maybe only once a week. Even if you maintain the habit of a daily bath or shower, your skin will be happier and healthier. If you want a healthy homemade deodorant recipe, see the first source below. If you're looking to get rid of body odor without the chemical cover-ups that damage our health, it's time to Balance Your Gut Flora and Balance Your Hormones.

Sources:

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com

http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

About the author:
Michael Edwards is the founder, owner, editor-in-chief, and janitor for Organic Lifestyle Magazine and Green Lifestyle Market. At age 17, Michael weighed more than 360 pounds. He suffered from ADHD, allergies, frequent bouts of illness, and chronic, debilitating insomnia.

Conventional medicine wasn't working. While he restored his health through alternative medicine he studied natural health and became immersed in it.