Probiotics and Body Odor

If you’re struggling with body odor you can take solace in the fact that it’s not you, it’s the bacteria living in your armpits. If you’ve found yourself feeling self conscious out in public because it seems like your deodorant has failed you yet again, there may be slightly simple fix. Although it may seem contradictory, salvation may lie in adding bacteria to your pits. 

The reason why your body odor isn’t you is because sweat doesn’t stink. Not just yours but everyones. Long associated with being the problem, sweat has gotten a bad rap over time as the enemy, so much so that we’ve even created antiperspirants that use aluminum to clog up sweat pores with the hopes of ending body odor for good. There are a number of problems with this line of thinking. First, sweating is a natural and necessary process and second, that sweat was never the problem in the first place. What is the problem is the amount and more importantly, the type of bacteria in your armpits. Most types of bacteria are harmless but a few strains that feed off your sweat produce what are called “thioalcohols” and those thioalcohols are really what are responsible for body odor - they stink. So then why would you wanna add more bacteria? 

Probiotics, especially the internal ones have become all the rage today. We’re eager to drink them up in all kinds of different forms with the intention of improving our digestive and mental health. What’s been overlooked are the benefits of probiotics on the skin. Our skin is covered with billions of bacteria including roughly 2,000 different types that live on the inner fold of the elbow. They help keep us healthy and free from infection. There seems to be a sort of balance between all the bacteria where they keep each other in check. Bacteria are like people, if they’re happy in life they behave. When conditions aren’t so good and things get unfair, they act out. All the constant handwashing, showers and antibacterial soaps have created imbalances between different types of bacteria on the skin. This isn’t to say hygiene is a bad thing, it’s not, it’s just that our culture today spends a lot of time inadvertently grooming the wrong bacteria.

These bad bacteria are particularly relevant in our underarms. Again, if the proper balance is reached with the differing types of bacteria that live in our pits, it’s relatively easy to keep odor at bay. When the bad bacteria win out, you’ve got problems. 

Long associated with BO is sweat. The thing is, sweat is naturally scentless. Some types of bacteria in our armpits that feed off our sweat and when they do, they produce “thioalcohols” as a by-product and this is what stinks. So, in getting back to our original question, why would you wanna add more bacteria to your armpits if bacteria are the problem in the first place? 

Not all bacteria that feed off sweat produce the odor causing thioalcohols. By introducing non-thioalcohol producing bacteria to your underarms through a probiotic deodorant you’re creating that competition for living space where the different types of bacteria keep each other in check. Over time and continued use, these bacteria populations stabilize out leaving you with greater odor protection as time goes on - in a natural way. You’re no longer using chemicals or metals to stop a natural process (that isn’t the problem in the first place) like sweating and you’re not creating an imbalance of bacteria by wiping out all the good ones. 

A great place to start your probiotic deodorant journey is right here with us, Green Theory. All our aluminum free, probiotic deodorants have 10 different strains of 50 billion culture probiotics in them. They’re made with all natural ingredients that you’ve heard of like coconut oil and baking soda (we do have a baking soda free version too!) and as an added benefit also include detoxifying bentonite clay. When this remarkable clay comes into contact with moisture, it reverses its electrical charge and attracts toxins and metals, pulling them out of the body. You get a daily little detox just by wearing our probiotic deodorant. It’s great for those who are making the switch away from aluminum containing antiperspirants as it helps your body purge itself of all that unhealthy aluminum. 

Today, you can give Green Theory  aluminum free probiotic deodorants a try with our exclusive 15% off code (your entire order) GTPROBIOTICS and experience the fresh pits and peace of mind! To get started on your probiotic journey, click the Green Theory link at the start of the paragraph or scroll up to the menu above!