When a wellness influencer in her late twenties decided to stop using deodorant six years ago, she expected awkward moments and panic. Instead, she discovered a surprising link between her body odour and what she ate.
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Alyse’s six-year experiment
In early 2018, Alyse Parker—then in her late twenties—simply stopped wearing deodorant, no backup sprays, no excuses. Like many who swap habits on a whim, she embarked on this personal trial without fanfare, determined to see what would happen.
Why ditch deodorant?
Concerned that some common ingredients may pose health risks, Alyse wanted to test nature’s own odour control. After about a year, she posted a candid video on YouTube reporting that friends and followers hadn’t noticed any unpleasant smells—an outcome that baffled both her and her audience.
The vegan diet factor
Alyse credits her vegan diet with neutralising her natural scent. “Your body reflects what you eat,” she explained, noting how smoothie bars seemed scent-free compared to the yeasty aroma of bakeries. According to a 2006 study in Biology Letters, axillary odour from participants on a non-meat diet was judged significantly more pleasant and less intense than that of meat-eaters¹.
Going fully raw foods
Taking it further, Alyse switched to a diet of exclusively raw fruits and vegetables. During this phase, she noticed the faintest whiff—even after meals high in fat or protein. It seems that cutting out cooked foods altered the mix of acids and bacteria on her skin.
Putting it to the gym test
Sceptics might argue she simply avoided breaking a sweat. Not at all—Alyse hits the gym regularly, pushing herself until she’s drenched. “I’m not one of those people who barely perspire,” she laughed in her video. Yet even post-workout, she reported zero complaints about her scent.
No odor even when sweating
Did you know? Sweat is over 99% water, and it’s the bacterial breakdown of sweat compounds that produces body odour.
According to the American Academy of Dermatology, sweat itself is largely odourless—body odour arises when skin bacteria break down sweat compounds².
A surprising genetic trait
Still, there’s more to the story. Research published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology suggests that around 2% of individuals carry an ABCC11 gene variant that prevents underarm odour entirely³. While diet played a huge role, Alyse’s results may also owe something to her unique genetic makeup.
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Alyse’s six-year deodorant detox shows that sometimes the simplest experiments can yield the most unexpected insights—into our habits, our diets, and even our genes.
Footnotes
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Jan Havlíček and Pavlína Lenochová. “The Effect of Meat Consumption on Body Odor Attractiveness.” Biology Letters (2006). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16891352/
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Cleveland Clinic. “Is sweat to blame for body odor?” https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/17865-body-odor
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ScienceDaily. “Deodorants: Do we really need them? Rare gene prevents body odor.” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130117084928.htm