From Tracee Cornforth,
Your Guide to Women's Health.
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Remember when you were a kid — you tried all kinds of ways to avoid taking a bath? Well, things have been changing for you and you probably feel like showering or bathing more often now. Maybe you're finally realizing that baths aren't so bad anymore. Or perhaps you're realizing that your body changes require some new hygiene habits. Either way, the changes you're experiencing at this time may make you feel like you look different and perhaps smell different than you did when you were a kid. Don't worry, it just means you're becoming an adult.

Sweating doesn't have to cause body odor

You lose about one quart of water each day even without exercising, so be sure you drink lots of water so you can stay cool.You might find that you're sweating more now, even when you're not exercising or in hot weather. You've always had the sweat glands that are producing more sweat. But during puberty, the sweat glands become much more active than when you were a kid.

Sweating is a normal, healthy and necessary process. You've got all these systems working in your body - your heart is beating, your stomach is digesting, your brain is thinking, your muscles are helping you move. All these bodily processes are creating heat. Your body temperature would reach a dangerous level and you would eventually die if your body couldn't get rid of all the heat it's producing. That's where sweating comes in.

Sweating helps your body get rid of the excess heat it is creating. It also helps you stay a safe temperature on a hot day. Even when you don't always notice sweat on your skin, you are still sweating and giving off heat.

You have sweat glands all over your body, but there are more of them in your armpits, feet, and groin. You may have already noticed more sweat and new smells from these areas of your body. These are normal and easy to deal with safely. First it helps to understand what causes the smell we typically think of as body odor.

It might surprise you to know this, but it's not actually sweat that causes odor. Body odor is caused by the reaction of your sweat with the bacteria that is already on your skin. The sweat that your body produces while you're exercising is also different from the sweat it produces if you're nervous or anxious.

So even if you don't notice any odor after exercising, you might notice an odor after a stressful situation. Armpit sweat has extra substances in it that tend to react more strongly with the bacteria on your skin causing a stronger odor. For example, if you stand up to speak in front of your class, that could cause the kind of sweating that is more likely to cause body odor.