I'm a vegetarian and noticed I smell slightly like paprika.. Do I have an imbalance in food intake?

Question

Lately I have been noticing that I smell like paprika. It's not strong at all, infact it's VERY faint...But it's def. paprika. I am a vegetarian for 13 years now and I rarely eat things cooked with paprika. I swear I bathe daily change clothes etc...I am wondering if it's an imbalance like my body is telling me I'm lacking a certain vitamin or I may be sick or something. What do you think? Please don't tell me I need to eat meat bc I really dont think that's the answer. Thank you so much!!

Answer 1

You need to write down everything you eat for about a week...everything...then look up the vitamins and minerals you are getting. You may be lacking something, but you also may be getting too much of something. If you are taking vitamin supplements then too much of something is probably the problem. You can actually overdose on certain vitamins...vitamin A for instance. Vitamin A comes in 2 different forms--beta carotene, which is fine, but the retinyl acetate form of vitamin A (which certainly does come in most supplements & multivitamins) can actually be quite dangerous if you take too much. If you change things around to be balanced and you still have this problem, go see a nutritionist.

Answer 2

Lots of chemicals will seep through your skin and affect your BO. The fact that you are able to smell it yourself means that you either have a really acute olfactory system or that there's a high concentration of the chemical. From what you said, I'd say it's the former.

I had a landlord who was Indian and he smelled of curry shortly after showering. It was simply because it was part of his diet on a regular basis.

Take mosquitoes for example. Vitamin B draws them to their preys, it's a chemical that they can detect and tells them that a source of blood is near by. Well if you avoid eating vitamin B rich food in the days before going on a camping trip, you will get less attention from them simply because there is less of it seeping through the pores of your skin. I've tried this and it is indeed true.

Answer 3

I don't think paprika has a strong smell... If you smelled curry, I would say it is BO. Perhaps you inhaled some paprika by mistake?

Answer 4

Do you eat a lot of red bell pepper? That's all paprika is is dried ground red bell peppers. Maybe just add a larger variety of veggies to your diet?

Answer 5

Its not a big deal. Stick with your vegetarian diet. Maybe take a vitamin supplement pill.