Like, I travel around for work and I’ve met plenty of people from all backgrounds.
Why is there a demographic of people who don’t seemingly bathe regularly, or at the very least wear something to cover up their BO? I could understand if it’s an allergy, or even religious reasons (though the people I’ve met that smell bad are usually you’re average American young adult man) but recently (like in the past week, recently) I’ve met a concerning number of people who don’t seem to wear any kind of deodorant or possibly don’t even bathe regularly; it’s starting to become an issue for me, as I don’t even want to interact with them when I can smell them walking up from 3+ feet away yet I need to for work.
Does anyone have any possible insight?
The study referenced found that deodorants encourage anaerobic bacterial growth (i.e. Staphylococcus) while antiperspirants kill off most bacteria. Bacteria cultures of people who do not use armpit products are dominated by aerobic bacteria (i.e. Corynebacterium).
But the problem is, Corynebacterium colonies stink. They smell heavily of the smell we associate with body odor.
The article you linked even says so.
My issue is not whether people that don’t use deodorant have bacterium 1 or bacterium 2. It’s that they stink.
If you don’t use deodorant, you have smelly armpit bacteria.
There are different kinds of bad smells. The smell of sweat is not that of rancid undigested meat which is what Staphylococcus smells like. If you want to be walking around like a half-digested steak, you’re welcome to it.
That’s a wild exaggeration. And runs directly contrary to what is written in the article you proffered as evidence.
You are spreading pseudo scientific disinformation.
Corynebacterium is more of a fruity, vinegar smell. I don’t find that to be an offensive odor. It’s what fresh sweat smells like. Staphylococcus smells like decomposition which I find highly offensive. Try it out for yourself, rinse your armpits with iodine and see how the smell changes. If you haven’t done it then you won’t know.
I’m totally willing to concede the point that you don’t think you smell bad.
But that is exactly why the OP started this thread isn’t it?
If you wear deodorant then you smell more like rotting flesh. That’s not my opinion, that’s science.
This is an assertion for which you have provided no evidence.
Listen man, I’m ok with you being in your weird little no deo cult, but that’s what it is. A weird little cult.
I’ve already provided references but here are some more demonstrating that your armpits specifically smell worse because you use deodorants and/or antiperspirants. Do the world a favor and manage your microbiome more conscientiously than this lazy brained approach you’ve taken so far. In short, you stink, but there’s an easy solution to it.
"Overuse of underarm cosmetics is often a flee reaction of people who suffer from malodourous axillae. It is hypothesized in this viewpoint that over usage of these products leads to a selective colonization of malodour-causing microbiota. These bacteria survive in the sweat glands and around the hair roots and are generally more able to withstand the more anaerobic environment. Reference: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/exd.13259
“… an increase in bacteria that compete with odour-generating bacteria may provide a means to reduce body odours without significantly affecting overall microbiota abundance, bypassing the need to use antiperspirants or bactericidal substances.” Reference: https://microbiomejournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40168-014-0064-3
“Especially when antiperspirants were applied, the microbiome showed an increase in diversity. Antiperspirant usage led toward an increase of Actinobacteria, which is an unfavorable situation with respect to body odor development. These initial results show that axillary cosmetics modify the microbial community and can stimulate odor-producing bacteria.” Reference: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris-Callewaert-2/publication/264435099_Deodorants_and_antiperspirants_affect_the_axillary_bacterial_community/links/5f538892458515e96d2f2441/Deodorants-and-antiperspirants-affect-the-axillary-bacterial-community.pdf