asian people of neogaf, do you wear deodorant?

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J

jerry113

Banned
I'm asian and I never used deodorant in my life before. Never heard a peep from people around me about smells too. I shower every day with soap but that's it. Apparently it's a common genetic trait of East Asians to lack the gene that produces body odor from armpits.

Several years ago ago, scientists discovered that a gene called ABCC11 determined whether people produced wet or dry earwax. Interestingly, people who produce the "dry" version of earwax also lack a chemical in their armpits that bacteria feed on to cause underarm odor.

"This key gene is basically the single determinant of whether you do produce underarm odor or not," Day said.

While only 2 percent of Europeans lack the genes for smelly armpits, most East Asians and almost all Koreans lack this gene, Day told LiveScience.

No one knows exactly why gene prevalence varies so much between populations, but its absence in East Asia suggests that being stinky was evolutionarily selected against there over the last several thousand years, he said.
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http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-without-underarm-protection/

I also have dry earwax and was freaked out to discover as a kid that some of my classmates had wet earwax.

More info:

East Asians have fewer apocrine sweat glands compared to people of other descent, and the lack of these glands make East Asians less prone to body odor. [16][17] The reduction in body odor and sweating may be due to adaptation to colder climates by their ancient East Asian ancestors.[18] The ABCC11 gene is known to determine axillary body odor, but also the type of earwax.[4][18][19][20] Most of the world's population secrete the wet-type earwax, however, East Asians are genetically predisposed for the allele that codes the dry-type earwax, associated with a reduction in axillary body odor.[4][18][20]

The loss of a functional ABCC11 gene is caused by a 538G>A single-nucleotide polymorphism, resulting in a loss of body odor in people who are specifically homozygous for it.[20][21] The non-functional ABCC11 allele is predominant amongst East Asians (80–95%), but very low in other ancestral groups (0–3%).[4] It affects apocrine sweat glands by reducing secretion of odorous molecules and its precursors.[4] It is also associated with a strongly reduced/atrophic size of apocrine sweat glands and a decreased protein (such as ASOB2) concentration in axillary sweat.[4]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor

We literally have less sweat glands than the rest of you.
 
S

see5harp

Member
I do sometimes, but it isn't exactly necessary. I wonder if the same gene that makes my armpits stay fresh also make my balls smell worse because I'm fairly certain I have really smelly balls.
 
Z

ZoddGutts

Member
Always-honest said:
So where does that smell come from?
Haha, just joking
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I didn't use deodorant till 7th grade, I was sweating a lot from playing Basketball, and someone said "where's that smell from?" I realized it was me, that person mentioned "whomever smells needs deodorant badly" lol since then I've put on deodorant.
 
J

jerry113

Banned
Mr. Macintosh!! said:
No one read the OP
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Apparently not. I'm fairly certain that in East Asian countries it's less common to be able to buy deodorant off store shelves because few people buy them - simply because not as many people need them on a daily basis due do to the fact most of their bodies don't produce that specific chemical that feeds bacteria that causes odor.

Maybe after intense exercise, but otherwise not needed.
 
Wag

Wag

Member
CVk5WNs.gif
 
A

Always-honest

Banned
ZoddGutts said:
I didn't use deodorant till 7th grade, I was sweating a lot from playing Basketball, and someone said "where's that smell from?" I realized it was me, that person mentioned "whomever smells needs deodorant badly" lol since then I've put on deodorant.
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Haha. My best friend was somehow unable to smell his own body-stink. I told him and then he smelled his armpit for the first time.. I'll never forget his facial ecpression when the smell hit the back of his nose.
Mr. Macintosh!! said:
No one read the OP
Click to expand...
Nonsense
 
S

Sober

Member
I don't think I exude stink, but I definitely wear deodorant just in case. I do stink after exercise from the pits, but never gotten comments about it stinking up the place (or noticed).

I shower pretty much every day with soap and all that jazz.

Also I noticed shaving my pits helps with the smell, it's not as prevalent. (yes I shave my pits)
 
C

Coolluck

Member
The sweatiest person I knew was East Asian. He was part Korean and part Japanese. Guess you can't cross the streams.
 
B

blackflag

Member
jerry113 said:
I'm asian and I never used deodorant in my life before. Never heard a peep from people around me about smells too. I shower every day with soap but that's it. Apparently it's a common genetic trait of East Asians to lack the gene that produces body odor from armpits.



http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/people-without-underarm-protection/

I also have dry earwax and was freaked out to discover as a kid that some of my classmates had wet earwax.

More info:



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_odor

We literally have less sweat glands than the rest of you.
Click to expand...


Interesting. I'm european decent but I must have this. I have never had runny earwax and really don't get any ear wax at all. I wear deoderant most of the time but I've noticed that even after lifting/hiking for several hours they don't stink. My girlfriend noticed too because hers will smell ripe after a long exercise session.
 
C

Cow Mengde

Banned
The wet earwax thing just blew my mind. Yes, I'm Asian, and no, my pits don't smell. My earwax is dry, so is the rest of my family. This thread just taught me people have wet earwax.

TIL.
 
R

Reversed

Member
Baking soda does the job for me but I usually wear neutral deodorant.

Not asian and I do have the stink gene. :( Never thought wet earwax was a thing (yuck).
 
J

jerry113

Banned
Cow Mengde said:
The wet earwax thing just blew my mind. Yes, I'm Asian, and no, my pits don't smell. My earwax is dry, so is the rest of my family. This thread just taught me people have wet earwax.

TIL.
Click to expand...

Yep. Yours looks like this, right? This is dry.

https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gory-details/what-your-earwax-says-about-your-ancestry

800px-Dry_earwax_free.jpg
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As for our different ear odors, they came about because of a tiny change, just one little letter in the genetic alphabet that long ago granted an East Asian population a reprieve from both smelly underarms and sticky earwax. This mutation appeared about 2,000 generations ago, according to a study published in 2011, and became more common across Asia over time. Today most East Asians and nearly all Koreans lack a chemical in their armpits that bacteria munch on to make body odor, because they carry this variant of the ABCC11 gene.

About 98 percent of Europeans have the smelly-armpit version of the gene, and along with it comes stickier and smellier earwax.
Click to expand...
 
J

jerry113

Banned
Mariolee said:
My dad says my pits smell awful so I guess I'm one of unlucky ones?
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Well I don't think Indonesians are part of the East Asian populations mentioned in the articles (?) so maybe you're par for the course? They don't mention anything about South Asians.
 
G

guek

Banned
Korean here and yes, every day. I've been told for years though that I naturally give of a slight garlicy smell that's not unpleasant. I'm paranoid enough to wear deodorant and bathe daily though.
 
M

Mariolee

Member
jerry113 said:
Well I don't think Indonesians are part of the East Asian populations mentioned in the articles (?) so maybe you're par for the course? They don't mention anything about South Asians.
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Misread as I was skimming, I thought it mentioned South East Asians as well. My bad!
 
E

EhoaVash

Member
Lol no. Use deodorant every day. I remember when I first hit pueberty and didn't have deodorant. on very embarrassing day at karate class.
 
J

jerry113

Banned
YoungHav said:
I am so confused by this story.
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Body odor is caused by bacteria munching on a chemical that is produced by human sweat glands. Apparently 90% of East Asians lack the gene that produces said chemical. No food for odor-producing bacteria = less body odor manufactured.

That gene happens to also encode for whether you have wet or dry earwax.
 
andythinkpad

andythinkpad

Member
ZoddGutts said:
I didn't use deodorant till 7th grade, I was sweating a lot from playing Basketball, and someone said "where's that smell from?" I realized it was me, that person mentioned "whomever smells needs deodorant badly" lol since then I've put on deodorant.
Click to expand...

It really depends on the fabric of your garment. Merino, no smell after 2-3 days; cotton, usually can last a day without the smell. Synthetic sports shirts, can stink it up just a few hours after high output activity. Thats why Capilene baselayers are so expensive, they have silver treatment in the synthetic material to suppress the bacteria that feed on your sweat and create the smell.
 
U

ugh_the_boot

Banned
I've read the OP - I have a lot of asain friends (chinese, korean, japanese, thai, cambodian, indonesian) and I can tell you that they all smell. I don't know if it's their diet or if the smell is coming from somewhere other than their armpits but they are some of the worst smelling mates I have unfortunately. The smell is very unnatural....almost chemical like whereas everyone else has that very musty BO smell that seems to be common with 90% of other guys I know. I don't know what you asians are doing but I recommend you guys get some ABCC11 into ya because something ain't right.
 
S

Septimus Prime

Member
I use deodorant, but it's mostly because it's customary. I've never smelled my pits and don't intend to.

I have dry earwax that needs to be cleaned out every once in a while.
 
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