Genetics
determine more than your eye or hair color. Your genes also drive your “odorsignature,” the smell you naturally emit from oil and sweat glands when you’re
at rest, physically active or exercising.
The
fermentation of your perspiration by naturally occurring bacteria on your skin
produces the distinctive scent we less generously call body odor, says Dr.
Debra Jaliman, a dermatologist, spokesperson for the American Academy of
Dermatology and author of Skin Rules: Trade Secrets From a Top Dermatologist.
We each have a distinct combination of bacteria — about 1,000 types live in
human sweat glands — and therefore, our own unique smell.
Age is
believed to alter body odor. Researchers have not pinned down the mechanism,
but one theory is as we get older, the activity of our bacteria changes,
affecting our natural odor.
