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Login Here Signup Here Signup using FacebookWe had a Doctor come to one of our raw food classes recently. He was taking a year out of beng a G.P. (family doctor) to research and study “nutritional intervention” and the effect of eating Light on the body. Yes he is an unusually enlightened doctor!
Anyway someone asked me what deodorants etc I used and I went and shocked them all by saying, “None of couse, raw foodists don’t smell” and then I shocked them further by telling them that since I went raw my poo and wee does not smell at all either!
They all looked at the doctor to see if he had a scientific explanation and he said yes that is right. He said that the bad smell that comes from most people whch they try to cover up with deodorant, soap and perfume comes from cooked food rotting in the body as the body cannot digest/get rid of it fully. It literally comes out of their pores. And he said that people who have a colostomy bag fitted because their bodies cannot excete urine etc, are given chloryphll pills to take to stop their poo and wee from smelling. Well, us rawies eat tone of chloryphll every day in our lovely greens, so we are full of the stuff.
So the combination of raw foodists eating tons of raw chloryphll, and only eating raw plants means we smell like fruit and flowers! How lovely for us:)
Just thought you’d like to hear that story!
Comments
Yes its true…chloryphll saved me from chronic stinky BO even before I was raw. I took chloryphll pills and it cured me in three days! THE POWER OF GREENS GOTTA LOVE EM!
Ok so i have been looking forward to throwing away my deo. and currently use a natural one that smells like lavender…anyhoo, i still feel self concious about pit odor…Ihave a very sweaty job, not to mention dirty dusty and gross( thats my horse training guys not my unbakery) i know one cannot be expected to smell like roses after chasing around after horses all day then driving around in a hot car, but really…;) i noticed a slight odor after the hot sweaty farmers market yesterday but not bad, but still an odor….am i just weird or is it the garlic and onions i eat alot of?( there are onions or garlic in at least one meal a day for me) and if i have savory smoothie then there is garlic in that too… zoe, my pee doesnt smell either but the poo? it still would be considered stinky!;) chlorophyll tabs…are they safe and where do i get them?
Don’t know what to tell you omshanti! Personally I’d rather eat a whole ton of greens than take a pill, but I am sure that in the USA they are on sale somewhere.
Is there anyone you can ask if you smell?! You probably don’t smell bad to other people, I mean they aren’t putting their noses right in your armpit now are they! Odd smells can arise whilst detoxing…
Another thing I have noticed is that animals are so crazy about me. I was walking down the street in Manchester and this collie came racing up to me and started licking my bare leg. Her owner had to come and prise the doggie off me. Animals have just been going crazy about the way I smell. Wierd.
actually zoe i had noticed how the horses where all sniffing me more!!! actually inhaling me!!! hahaa….ill up my green intake and try not to be so paranoid..my hubby says i dont smell unless its like horses or chlorine from the pool sometimes my hands smell like food after chopping, but otherwise he says i dont… grin gues i need to get a grip! teehee
What a great topic.;-) I have to add that I have no BO either. Zip. I still ocassionally use the mineral rock thinga majig but its probably not needed. The really crazy thing? I am not growing arm pit hair any more! I swear. How weird is that? Hair on my legs etc.. everything else is peachy. And I’m talking no follicles! Smooth sailing. Amazing.
I love this topic! I never thought I would be one to stop wearing deodorant AT ALL (or stop using breath mints/gum) but after being raw for a few months I’ve found that I don’t need it anymore. :) Awesome, huh?
So, you mean your poo doesn’t come out smelling like cooked food?
About garlic: Renee Underkoffler’s book says that the sprouting part of the garlic is what makes one smell. I haven’t been able to test it though…
Interesting topic! I knew I needed more greens in my diet… but after this topic, I know another reason why! After I had my cleanse I smelled much less (hardly noticeable)... but I must admit I haven’t been near 100% raw since the cleanse. My husband (cooked or raw) doesn’t have a smell… and he only uses deodarant about once a week.
Marichiesa: No armpit hair? Unbelievable! How long have you been raw?
marchiesa, my mom stopped growing eyebrows! hers look perfectly groomed all the time! boy i wish my armpits would be bald naturally!
My husband eats pretty healthy, although he’s not raw… yet. He eats loads of fruits and veggies and nothing fried and I was always amazed how he never smells ever. I had never met anyone with no BO whatsoever, but now it makes sense.
Hope one day I’m brave enough to go without deoderant!
I want to stop growing armpit hair!!! Not fair!! ;-) he he!
I agree that body odor is not as much of a problem with raw foodists, but we cannot deny that practicing proper hygiene must be a part of the formula. People still must take showers and wash their clothes and not just hide behind the raw food label. I know this sounds very basic, but I am aware of at least two raw foodists who consistently have very strong body odor, especially after working out. One of them gave me a hug last week and I truly thought I was going to pass out! I wanted to jump into the shower just from hugging him!
I still use deodorant (only natural with clean ingredients) as a precaution as I work with the public, But even on days when I don’t use it, I generally am ok unless I sweat profusely due to extreme heat, strenuous exercise, or extreme stress. (I believe that “nervous tension” or stress produces stronger body odors.) Natural deodorants didn’t always work in the past before I became a raw foodist, although I was vegan.
One thing that bothers me is that sometimes when I eat food with a lot of garlic, the smell of garlic permeates throughout my body the following day. Even though I take a shower, use deodorant, and brush my teeth, I have been told that the smell of garlic is strong, even if someone is not very close to me.(I cannot smell it and don’t know unless someone tells me. Interestingly, people who eat garlic don’t smell it.) It gets me really paranoid and I worry about eating garlic. I think that this may be caused when I don’t have plenty of greens along with the garlic, but I have not really verified it. When it happens, I get so preoccupied trying to get rid of the odor, that I don’t focus on determining the potential cause.
Just to throw into the mix: I have never smelt BO on my husband in 20 years. Even in the years when he smoked, drank (a lot), took amphetamines, ate meat and a very toxic diet, and didn’t shower or wash any more than the average. But he never used a deodorant either. On 90% raw food, I have stopped using a deodorant habitually, but can sometimes smell BO on me at the gym, even after I’ve washed very recently. It’s confusing!
I agree Debbie, it is confusing. Even though we are raw, we have skin, we sweat, we eat food that sometimes smells when we urinate (asparagus for example), etc. I am intrigued by anyone whose bodies produce absolutely no odor; not even at the gym after a workout?
This is a good topic. A few questions come to mind (I don’t have answers):
Can people that don’t sweat have no smell?
Is there a relation with food combining and smelling?
Are we always detoxing that we will have a smell (even if rare)?
By the way, I do have 2 baths per day. I only use hot water though, no soap. And when I have been active and sweat, no it doesn’t smell. I do Bikrams yoga for 1 1/2hours in a room heated to sauna temp and the sweat pours off me, but still, it doesn’t smwell of anything at all. I don’t do food combining, I am just strictly 100% raw.
The only time I smell is when I have eaten something cooked. This happens even if it is just a dried apricot that has not been sundried…
I have gone deodorant free as well and notice I still sweat (alot) and sometimes smell. I think sometimes different bodies just are different because my husband is not raw and never smells at all and I’m about 90 percent raw and still sweat/smell
We used to joke years ago when we were vegan that “our shit don’t stink.” Well, it’s true! As far as the underarms and pubic area, bacteria is what causes the smell most of the time, so just be squeaky clean. However, I use a deodorant crystal and have for many, many years. I sweat like crazy when I work out, and I do not smell if I’m clean in the crevices.
As far as bathing and such, I’ve just learned that cool showers are alkaline and hot showers are acid. Boy is that true for me! Even after a warm shower, I come out with a very red face and rapid heartbeat. I make mine “tepid” now.
Eating raw garlic – never had a problem, but a couple tablespoons of parsley along with it or after a meal should get rid of any odors. I personally eat a spoonful of garlic a day with a big glass of water and I’ve never noticed an odor, nor burped it afterward.
Good topic. Not one you can discuss at the bus stop, eh? :)
I have never been one to have noticeable BO, raw or not raw, and I also don’t have much body hair except for my forearms (thanks dad). Raw did cause my poop to not smell anymore, though. :-)
Zoe, what about snacking. Do you snack between meals?
Does anyone know if snacking between meals contributes to B.O. for the raw fooders out there with B.O.? And for those raw fooders without B.O., do you snack between meals?
Boy, Rawallison do I know what you mean about the no noticeable B.O. thing! I am also nearly hairless (excet on my head.) B.O. is the one thing that bothered me most when I was on the “athlete/gym rat mythology diet” (aka lots of animal protien with every meal & there were about 5 – 6 meals a day required!!!) My B.O. skyrocketed even with the use of industrial deodorant & I was washing & putting on tons of industrial deodorant several times a day!
I went raw & the B.O. went away, so I changed to a natural deodorant from the hfs & ended up with serious pit odor. I had to keep a wash cloth with me at all times because the hfs deodorant couldn’t combat the smell of years of industrial deodorant detoxing from my pits. :( I’m finally getting to where I am only mildly smelly after I work out & even that’s dying away. Mind you, I have only been 100% raw for 2 1/2 months. It just feels like forever when you’re worried about being stinky all the time. <lol>
- Stasi
Omshanti, it isn’t natural to lose armpit hair or eyebrow growth. It might be a good idea to check for low thyroid. I had eyebrow loss for several years from the center towards the end. I took an analysis quiz on the Internet and whether or not I had eyebrow loss was a question that was asked. When I thought I had symptoms of hypothyroidism, eyebrow loss was brought to my attention a second time. Since I started taking Modifilan, seaweed, my hair (that was falling out) and my eyebrows got back to normal. I think it was the iodine in the seaweed that helped me.
I also think the BO might be caused by other toxins coming out of the skin, a secondary elimination organ.
AnastasiaAlson, where are you studying for your certification? And how about your raw food education? Also, your website doesn’t seem to work.
germin8: I am studying for my nutrition cert. through IFA, the same place I got my personal training certification. The raw food coaching I’ll be taking through THe Raw Vegan Network. They both offer home study programs which works out great for me since I need to keep working & I have 3 children I’m homeschooling! ;)
I am also doing what I always do as far as education in raw food: studying everything I can get my hands on. I pay attention to the books people are recommending & make sure I read them. I’m sure there’s a faster way, but so far as I’ve seen they certainly aren’t cheaper or more flexible! <lol>
My website for now is just a place marker; it’s a copy of my business card until I can get everything together & get it set up properly. The email works, though! ;)
- Stasi
Earlier I wrote that sometimes I have BO at the gym on a 90% raw diet. I think I’ve found the answer. The BO seems to occur shortly after eating onions and/or garlic, and fresh BO does in fact have an oniony smell! I’m also fairly sure that garlic has an effect on the odour of my poos. As someone said, perhaps only a subject that we can discuss confidently in this forum!
Miss Trix,
hot showers are acid??
since i have stopped using shampoo i use the hot water to help get the oil out of my hair and i did notice that after a while in the shower i have trouble breathing but i just thought it was the steam…
do you have any more information on that?
germin8, you asked me back there if I snacked between meals, I don’t have set meal times I work at home so I can eat what I want, whenever I want. Which usually turns out to be a 1 or 2 big salads a day and lots of juice, green and fruit, and the odd banana, pear, apple handful of nuts.
Anastasia, so you are getting a certificaiton in sports nutrition? How long will your certification take?
I hadn’t heard of the Raw Vegan Network. I was looking at Dr. Ann Wigmore Raw Living Foods Lifestyle Home Study Program. (I’m not taking the course… just learning about the options out there.)
Congrats on homeschooling your kids. Do you live in a place where your new skills and certification can be used? How do you (or will you) balance that with homeschooling?
Oh yeah, your website did work; it just didn’t work on my MAC running Safari. It works on IE. I recognized the area code to be in NM. I lived a mile from the NM border where I grew up – El Paso.
Zoe Thanks for the reply. I just thought that not-snacking would also help with not smelling. Since… I believe… snacking could cause food to sit & putrify while it’s digesting your just-eaten food. So, it doesn’t seem like snacking affects your odor.
I read this forum last week, went home and did an inspection. It’s true. I am probably about 75% raw and I have zero body odor. Woah!
I don’t know when that actually occurred. I have been semi-raw for about a year. I guess I have noticed in recent months that at the end of the day I think my clothes could be worn again.
That knowledge really helps in the evaluation of food offerings that could be tempting. Do you want this? Nope, not really.
Omshanti About Christmas time last year I started drinking green juices with green onions in it. I noticed that I did smell oniony everyday for about two months. Then the oniony smell went away even though I still consume green onions in my drink everyday.
I read that fenugreek can make a person smell a lot better- maybe like a pancake with syrup! Parlsey at night is also a good thing to eat especially if you’ve been eating garlic and onions. Also eating cucumbers can make you a lot cooler and so you don’t weat as much and tolerate higher temps.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to this one! I totaly had’t even realized you’d asked me more stuff. <lol>
I live in Santa Fe & so far I have no problem with interest in my nutrition services. I am planning a class on basic raw food prep w/in the next month. I plan to integrate the raw food/nutrition work into my existing personal training business. Santa Fe is the land of the alternative health junkie so I don’t anticipate any real problems.
I work my schedule around the boys’ needs. From mid-morning to late afternoon I am available only to my family. Before & after that, I am available to clients. Also, my husband works from home, so if I need to on occasion I can take a client during lesson time.
The certification course is home study & self-paced so you can take as long as you need to complete it. I am nearly finished with the Raw Vegan network course. I also looked into the Ann Wigmore course, but had found out about it after I had already begun the one with Raw Vegan Network; I’ll likely take that one, too! It looks very good & comprehensive. I figure I can’t learn too much! <lol>
The certification course for nutrition consultant that I am taking is through IFA, the people I got my personal trainer certification through. You can also get it through ACE; either of these options also have the study materials for purchase. There is another option through a certification body that only does nutrition consultant certifications, but they only provide a reading/text list; you have to find the books on your own. In any case, this is all done through self-directed home study.
Hope this helps! :)
- Stasi