Vitamin and Mineral Deficiencies that May Cause Body Odor

1. Zinc

Zinc is a mineral that supports your immune system, your sense of taste and smell, prostate health and adrenal function. Zinc also plays an important role in managing the waste produced in your body after it digests carbohydrates.

Dietary zinc deficiency is common and affects an estimated 2 billion people, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. But this nutritional deficiency isn't common in the United States.

Symptoms of zinc deficiency may include hair loss, diarrhea, weight loss, taste abnormalities, impotence, eye and skin lesions and delayed healing of wounds, according to the National Institutes of Health.

3. Riboflavin (Vitamin B2)

You can develop an unpleasant fishy smell even without eating a lot of seafood. This may be the cause of a condition called trimethylaminuria.

In those with trimethylaminuria, the compound trimethylamine builds up in the body and is released through sweat, urine, reproductive fluids and breath. The result is a strong fishy odor, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute. If you have trimethylaminuria, taking riboflavin (vitamin B2) supplements is recommended.

A deficiency may not have caused the disorder, but extra riboflavin in your diet, along with reduction of trimethylamine-containing foods, such as cruciferous vegetables and seafood, could help. You can get riboflavin from beef, tofu, milk, eggs and nuts, according to the USDA.

Diet Tweaks for Better Body Odor

A vitamin deficiency may not be the main cause of your body odor, but dietary intervention could help clean up your scent. Incorporating certain foods and limiting others could help eliminate stenchy odors.

Fresh green plants, particularly parsley, kale, spinach and wheatgrass, contain lots of chlorophyll — the compound that makes them green — and may deodorize your body.

Citrus juice, particularly from lemons and grapefruit, contains acid that flushes water quickly through your system. The fiber in these fruits also moves the contents of your digestive tract more quickly, so food has less time to ferment and cause odor.

Certain foods can also change the way you smell, according to Harvard Health Publishing. If body odor is a concern, try limiting foods like garlic, onions and cruciferous vegetables.

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