Which Hormone Imbalance Can Cause Body Odor?

One of the common hormonal imbalances that cause body odor is menopause. While not every woman who experiences menopause will have body odor, it can become a problem for some women, especially if they are more prone to perspire or are affected by outside influences that can exacerbate body odor. For women who do experience it, problems associated with body odor can have a tremendous effect on the way they will adjust to the natural changes occurring within their bodies as well as affect lifestyle choices. Therefore, understanding how body odor is caused or influenced by these hormonal imbalances and the ways in which a woman can combat them is extremely important in dealing with menopause.

Causes

• Women in their early 40s onward commonly experience the hormonal shifts that are caused by menopause. When a woman is having hot flashes, a common menopausal symptom, she will experience a higher level of perspiration, which will result in body odor. While sweat itself is odorless, it does create conditions in certain parts of the body, such as armpits or the groin, in which bacteria thrives. The armpits, particularly, have apocrine sweat glands that secrete material that has a high level of proteins, carbohydrates and lipids that bacteria feeds on. The bacteria thus creates the odor commonly associated with sweating. When a woman is experiencing hot flashes and an abnormal level of perspiration, she is more likely to be affected by the body odors associated with sweating.

What Is Menopause?

• Menopause itself is caused by a variance of estrogen and progesterone that upset the balance of both hormones in the woman's body. When this occurs, the woman's health changes dramatically. While experiencing menopause, the woman will experience a number of symptoms, including headaches, dizziness, PMS, weight gain, hair loss or growth, wrinkly skin, depression or fatigue, as well as more serious health problems as fibrocystic breasts, osteoporosis, urinary tract infections or incontinence and uterine fibroids. Perspiration is also a common symptom. Body odor is not necessarily a symptom of menopause or hormonal imbalances itself, but is a possible result of symptoms associated with menopause.

Other Causes

• There are, of course, other causes of body odor. But women experiencing menopause must also bear in mind such things as the types of food they eat and the ways they will exacerbate body odor while experiencing hot flashes. Foods such as red meat contain high levels of protein and can also affect the level of body odor a woman with a hormonal imbalance experiences. Other foods such as onions and garlic, as well as alcoholic and caffeinated beverages, will also affect body odor.

Prevention/Solution

• While experiencing menopause, there are a number of things that can be done to prevent body odor. Eliminating or decreasing the amount of foods that contain high levels of carbohydrates and protein is, of course, a possible component to decreasing body odor. Smoking increases menopausal symptoms and should be eliminated entirely. Addressing the body odor directly is another way to prevent it. If the odor is localized, antibacterial soap is the best way to counteract the bacteria that develop in armpits or the groin. A mild hydrogen peroxide or alcohol solution also works best to eliminate or decrease the growth of bacteria in these localized areas of the body. While experiencing menopause, a best way to decrease the amount of sweating can include wearing loose fitting, cotton clothing. These types of clothes will absorb sweat and allow the skin more breathing room. Extra strength body deodorant is also useful to prevent body odor.

Vitamins and Natural Herbs

• There are vitamins and natural herbs a woman experiencing hormonal imbalances such as menopause can ingest that will also decrease body odor. For instance, magnesium, zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B are common vitamins that will help decrease body odor. Green vegetables are also useful if a woman is low on zinc. They provide natural elements of vitamins that are as helpful as supplement tablets. Consultation with a doctor will be needed to determine the correct dosage for a woman's specific needs.

  Herbs such as coriander, licorice, rosemary and a few others also work well for combating body odors. These herbs can be rubbed on armpits to decrease or eliminate body odor. These herbs contain antibacterial properties that inhibit the growth of bacteria in localized areas. Other herbs, such as St. John's wort, black cohosh, ginseng and dong quai, are commonly used in replacement hormone therapy and are quite effective in reducing the amount of perspiration a woman experiences during hot flashes. These herbs specifically stabilize hormonal imbalances, thus decreasing any number of symptoms a woman experiences during menopause.