Say Goodbye to Body Odor With TCM Diet Conditioning

In traditional Chinese medicine body odor is seen not merely as a surface-level issue, but as a manifestation of deeper imbalance.

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Body odor is not a disease but can affect daily life and work. While many turn to deodorants or perfumes to mask the scent, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) offers a holistic approach to address the root causes of body odor, which are often linked to imbalances in the body’s internal systems. By adjusting your diet and adopting simple lifestyle practices, you can naturally manage and reduce body odor, promoting overall health and well-being.

Body Odor: Spleen Deficiency, Undischarged Dampness

Body odors—whether from the body or sweat—go beyond surface-related issues and are linked to internal imbalances, particularly damp heat and dysfunction in the spleen and stomach. Dampness refers to disrupted water metabolism in the body, which causes fluids to accumulate and form thick, sticky substances. This creates an internal environment similar to a clogged, stagnant ditch, which leads to an unpleasant odor.

TCM believes that the spleen controls dampness. Therefore, people with a weak spleen and stomach are more likely to initiate and accumulate dampness. The spleen in TCM does not just refer to the organ spleen, but covers the entire digestive system.  So, it is often referred to collectively as “spleen and stomach,” which is responsible for the digestion, absorption, and transportation of food.

People with weak spleen and stomach functionality usually exhibit symptoms of abdominal distension, loss of appetite, sticky and soft stools, and always feel that they do not have a clean discharge. They are also prone to dizziness and a pale complexion. A strong body odor accompanying these symptoms may indicate an underlying imbalance.

Dietary Adjustment to Reduce Body Odor

If you want to reduce body odor, one way is to adjust your diet accordingly. TCM believes that medicine and food come from the same origin, and many ingredients can regulate the body. According to the different known causes of body odor, the following adjustments can be made in our diet:

1. Heavy Dampness: Eat More Warm Foods and Fewer Cold Foods

Include warm and tonic foods in your daily diet, such as yams and lotus seeds, which can help strengthen the spleen and stomach functionality.

Yams have been used as food and medicine for thousands of years and are remarkably effective in strengthening the spleen and stomach and nourishing the kidneys. Studies have shown that yams have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune-regulating properties.

Avoid cold foods such as watermelon, kiwi, cantaloupe, dragon fruit, lettuce salad, and ice cream, as they can cause moisture to remain in the body and exacerbate body odor.

People with extremely moist accumulation can use certain traditional Chinese herbal formulas, such as “Sijunzi Decoction” or “Liujunzi Decoction,” to nourish the spleen and replenish qi (vital energy), regulate the stomach, and enhance bodily water metabolism, thereby reducing body odor.

Sijunzi Decoction

Ingredients

• 9 grams each of ginseng, white atractylodes (also called Atractylodes macrocephala), and poria (also called Poria cocos)
• 6 grams roasted licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), crushed or sliced
• Approximately 200 to 250 ml water

Preparation

• Combine the herbs with the water in a pot and bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer over medium heat
• Reduce the liquid until about 70 percent of the water evaporates or about 30 to 50 ml of liquid remains. This means the decoction should be reduced, not the herbs themselves.

Studies have shown that Sijunzi decoction may help treat gastrointestinal diseases through various mechanisms, including regulating intestinal flora, reducing inflammation, regulating immune response, and promoting mucosal repair.

Liujunzi Decoction

Ingredients

• 5 grams each of ginseng, white atractylodes (Atractylodes macrocephala), poria (Poria cocos), and pinellia (Pinellia ternata)
• 2.5 grams each of roasted licorice (Glycyrrhiza uralensis), dried tangerine peel (Citrus reticulata), fresh ginger (Zingiber officinale), and jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)
• Approximately 200 to 250 mL water

Preparation

• Combine all the ingredients with the water in a pot
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer over medium heat
• Reduce mixture until 70 percent of the liquid has evaporated, leaving about 30 to 50 ml of the decoction

The therapeutic benefits of Liujunzi decoction are particularly effective in cases where the spleen is weak, as it helps strengthen digestion, restore balance to the gut, and support overall gastrointestinal health.

2. Heavy Heat Type: Eat More Dampness-Removing Foods

Excessive internal heat—what the Chinese called “Shang Huo,” is also a common cause of body odor. People with excessive internal heat usually have dry mouth and tongue, obvious sweat odor, and even yellow sweat. In addition, they are prone to itchy rashes and irritability.

Heat-clearing and diuretic foods, such as water spinach, amaranth, rapeseed, celery, winter melon, mung beans, floating wheat, etc., which can help expel excess heat and moisture in the body, can help improve body odor in people with these types of conditions.

They should avoid heavy-tasting foods and eat lighter, low-fat foods. Frying, grilling, and spicy seasonings increase the body’s heat, inhibit the discharge of moisture, and lead to aggravated body odor.

Avoid onions, ginger, fennel, chili peppers, etc. Although garlic is generally good for the body, it should be eaten in moderation. Meanwhile, curry contains a variety of spices, such as fennel, cumin, etc., which can also cause the body to emit a strong smell.

Homemade Deodorant Sachets

TCM believes that fragrance can often drive away odors and is therefore effective in improving body odor. Herbs with the word “fragrance” in their names usually contain such fragrance-exuding ingredients as costus root, patchouli, cyperus rotundus, and galangal. Even herbs such as angelica dahurica, asarum, and mint emanate a particularly strong fragrance.

These strongly aromatic medicinal herbs, combined with a small amount of blood-stasis-reducing herbs such as trifoliate vine and curcuma, can be ground into powder and placed in a small pouch. When worn under the armpit, this can effectively help eliminate body odor.

Lithargyrum is a mineral important in herbal medicine for treating body odor. Ancient medical literature holds that it can treat genital sweating and itching and remove body odor.

Ingredients

• 10 grams Lithargyrum
• 70 grams talc
• 5 grams borneol
• 15 grams calamine

Preparation

• Grind all ingredients into a fine powder
• After bathing, apply the powder to your armpits once a day
• Regular use may help reduce body odor

Precaution

If the armpits are ulcerated, damaged, or wounded, these medicines cannot be applied.

Self-Aroma Method

There is a self-aroma method you can try:

• Cover your mouth, nose, and eyes with your hands for 30 to 60 seconds (the exact duration may vary based on comfort). You can cover them all at once or one by one, as long as you maintain the coverage.
• Once a small amount of sweat appears on the palm of your hand, gently massage the sweat into your face and around your eyes.
• Repeat consistently over time, and your body may begin to emit a natural fragrance.

Sweat Stains and Mildew on Clothes Can Cause Body Odor

Body odor does not necessarily come from the internal. One patient of mine had been complaining about body odor for a long time, and there was no improvement after trying various approaches. Later, it was discovered that his clothes had been damp for quite a while, breeding mold, and even with visible black mold spots. It was then that we realized the odor produced by the clothes was mistaken for body odor.

To remove the odor caused by clothes, I recommended that he add a little commercially available fungicide during clothes laundering. After adapting this overhaul in clothes cleaning, his body odor problem was significantly improved.

What to Avoid

1. People with body odors should not use perfume to cover it. Using perfume cannot remove body odor, but instead mixes the two smells together to become a strange blend of fragrance and unpleasant odor.
2. Never ask your doctor to prescribe atropine to stop sweating. Doing so may cause serious side effects and bring more harm to your body.

Atropine is an anticholinergic drug. Its side effects may include stimulating the parasympathetic nerves, leading to dry eyes, reduced sweating, increased body temperature, headache, blurred vision, constipation, urinary retention, impotence, increased heart rate and palpitations, anxiety, etc.

Body odor, while a common issue, can be effectively managed by addressing its root causes through diet and herbal remedies, as taught in TCM. By strengthening the spleen, reducing dampness, and using the right foods and herbs, you can regain balance and reduce unpleasant body odors naturally.

Always consult a qualified physician for a treatment plan tailored to your needs. With consistent care, you can cultivate a pleasant natural fragrance and improved overall health.

Many Chinese herbs mentioned above can be bought in health food and Asian grocery stores.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times. Epoch Health welcomes professional discussion and friendly debate. To submit an opinion piece, please follow these guidelines and submit through our form here.