What is body odor and why does it seem to “hang” in the air? Why is it so profound in some individuals? Was there an advantage to this?
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Body Odor is the farts from bacteria on your body. Sweat by itself doesn’t have a strong odor. Once bacteria start eating your sweat, they produce the smell we associate with BO. Some people have it worse than others and it’s completely due to their particular microbes. It is specific to them. As for hanging in the air, it is constantly being produced, so if you’re near that person, they need to take a shower or have a giant fan blowing it all away (but it will still be there).
As for an advantage, a lot of the microbes in our bodies are symbiotic. Mostly in our gut. The stuff on the outside isn’t really doing us any good, but it’s also not preventing us from having children. That’s the line in the sand for evolution. It doesn’t have to do us good, it just can’t prevent us from having children, or it will get removed from the gene pool eventually.
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