There are plenty of societal taboos; wearing thongs (on any body part) to a wedding, playing your iPad during the opera, and taking home un-consumed wine that brought to a dinner party are just a few. Perhaps one of the more paradoxical taboos though is played out in gyms in every suburb in every city and every town; although we are encouraged to exercise until we sweat up a torrent, should you start to stink in the process then eyebrows will be raised and a wide berth given. Yes, body odour is a no-no even when working out and while some people are naturally more disposed to it now new research shows that the clothes you choose to exercise in can also have a major impact on how smelly you become.
For a start, we need to know that freshly secreted sweat has little odour. This is largely because the long-chain fatty acids that come from the arm-pits are to big to become easily airborne. Bacteria come into the equation because they break down the fats into smaller molecules that are more odorous and can travel through the air. Corynebacteria are the main cause of odour in the armpits themselves but they tend not to be able to live on clothing fibres. There are however, bacteria that can live on clothes and cause problems.
Staphylococci inhabit the arm-pits and can also live on textiles that come into contact with the sweat but they do not produce odour. The little stinkers in this regard are bacteria known as micrococci. When micrococci use their enzymes to transform fatty acids, hormones, and amino acids into smaller compounds then the result is smelly, airborne substances…body odour on the fly.
The researchers however, found that micrococci will grow on one common fabric used in gym wear but not on another favoured textile.
The research showed that micrococci will grow on polyester but not on cotton. So if you are getting sidelong glances at the gym just as you get into your workout it just might be that exchanging your polyester bodysuit for some cotton tops and bottoms could tone down the pong a little.
