WHY DOES MY SWEAT SMELL LIKE CAT PEE?

Cancer-sniffing dogs. Death-sniffing cats. Clearly, there is a treasure-trove of information available in our scent that most of us are unaware of.

Currently, research into decoding the odors in our sweat is massively growing. The volatile organic compounds in our sweat reveal a unique metabolic signature that can give a wealth of information about health status, microbiome colonization and how this interacts with genetics.

Of course, for thousands of years, people recognized that the way someone smells can give all kinds of practical insight into their health and used this understanding to guide medical strategies.

Here, we’re going to take a look at ammonia and what a putrid smell in our sweat can tell us about our health. While there are a few metabolic signatures that we can smell in the sweat, ammonia is a common one and worth understanding as an output to guide your process when it comes up.