Understanding Foot Odor: Causes, Effects, and Solutions

Foot smell is a disease which is scientifically known as bromhidrosis- sweaty and stinky feet. While neither uncomfortable nor contagious, foot odor causes unmitigated social suffering to those who are burdened with it. Under regular conditions each of your feet produces half a pint of sweat by methods by ways of some 20,000 gland. In the majority of people, this perspiration evaporates. In people with bromhidrosis, however, more sweat is produced, and it does not vaporize as easily, which will result to odoriferous feet.

In the presence of germs, these sweaty secretions break down, generating a foul odor. Obviously getting rid of the bacteria and drying really carefully can momentarily make your feet smell sweet. (Renner, 1993). Nowadays, foot smell cases are increasing due to unforeseen rain and heat. Frequently in males. Foot smell is triggered by germs. As a result, it produces a foul smell. When feet ends up being moist, it offers as breeding location for germs and fungis. Thus, leads to the accumulation of bacteria and is typically a long term condition.

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If not dealt with well, it will not be eliminated. (Alengasa, 2009).

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Mild cases of athlete’s foot are improved by keeping the feet dry and using foot powder especially between the ties and changing socks frequently. Foot powder relieves itching and absorbs moisture on the feet. It also soothes irritated skin and prevents foot odor by controlling odor-causing bacteria. Applyinf foot powder will lessen the presence of bacteria especially if the powder contains Calamansi.

Calamansi could be a good antibacterial agent in removing bacteria because of its acidic taste and sweet scent. (Renner, 1993). This study selected Calamansi (Citrofortunella mitis) peelings as a main ingredient in making foot powder.

The researchers had chosen these plant because it is abundant in our locality and therefore easy to gather and obtain. Calamansi is known to whiten and brighten the skin and also appealing because of its deodorizing effect. Citrofortunella mitis belongs to the Rutaceae family and is known locally as “Kalamansi “ or “Calamondin”. It is also known as Philippine lemon . It is a small tree, originally native to China, which is now widely grown throughout Southern Asia and Malaysia. It is particularly important source of citrus in Philippine Islands. The Kalamansi fruit is of small size (3-4 cm wide).

It does not resemble a lemon nor a lime, but was thought to be a hybrid of a lime and a mandarin orange or a kumquat. This is probably why it has been referred as “Chinese orange. ” The fruit is best used when mature and still green but also be used when fully ripe (yellow to orange in color). The extremely juicy and highly acid pulp has a particularly distinct, aromatic smell and taste. The fruit juice is an ingredient in numerous local beverages, cakes, sauces and marmalades. ( Sarasota, 1999). It is said that calamansi is an acid citrus, a group that includes lemons and limes.

This is because the fresh is orange ,juicy and acidic acid with a fine lime flavor. The many uses of calamansi make this fruit a wonder fruit. Calamansi halves or quarters may be squeezed on iced tea, seafoods and meat, to enhance iron absorption. According to theNutritional Guidelines for Filipinos 2000 developed by Technical Working Group headed by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute of the DOST(2007). Aside from the food and medicinal uses of calamansi, the fruit juice is used to bleach ink stains from fabrics and serve as a body deodorant. There are two types of sweat glands in the human body.

The apocrine glands are located primarily in the armpits, breast, and genital areas. These glands produce a strong odor to attract potential mates. The other type of sweat gland is the eccrine gland. This is the sweat gland responsible for our bodies’ thermoregulation. When we sweat, it creates a moist environment for bacteria that are on our skin to begin reproducing. Normally the sweat would dry up, and the bacteria would begin dying off, but since most people keep their feet covered, our feet stay moist and the bacteria keep partying (Huyom, 2009)

Description “The calamondin tree, ranging from 6 1/2 to 25 ft (2-7. m) high, is erect, slender, often quite cylindrical, densely branched beginning close to the ground, slightly thorny, and develops an extraordinarily deep taproot. The evergreen leaves (technically single leaflets) are alternate, aromatic, broad-oval, dark-green, glossy on the upper surface, yellowish-green beneath, 1 1/2 to 3 in (4-7. 5 cm) long, faintly toothed at the apex, with short, narrowly-winged petioles. The richly and sweetly fragrant flowers, having 5 elliptic-oblong, pure-white petals, are about 1 in (2. 5 cm) wide and borne singly or in 2's or 3's terminally or in the leaf axils near the branch tips.

The showy fruits are round or oblate and to 1 3/4 in (4. 5 cm) wide, with very aromatic, orange-red peel, glossy, and dotted with numerous small oil glands; tender, thin, easily-removed, sweet, and edible. The pulp, in 6 to 10 segments, is orange, very juicy, highly acid, seedless or with 1 to 5 small, obovoid seeds, green within The calamondin is believed native to China and thought to have been taken in early times to Indonesia and the Philippines. It became the most important Citrus juice source in the Philippine Islands and is widely grown in India and throughout southern Asia and Malaysia.

It is a common ornamental dooryard tree in Hawaii, the Bahamas, some islands of the West Indies, and parts of Central America. Dr. David Fairchild introduced it into Florida from Panama in 1899. It quickly became popular in Florida and Texas. The California climate is not as favorable but a variegated form ('Peters') is cultivated there. Since 1960, thousands of potted specimens have been shipped from southern Florida to all parts of the United States for use as house plants. Israel is now similarly raising such plants for the European market.

The calamondin is also valued as a rootstock for the oval kumquat (q. v. ) for pot culture. At the Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Florida in Gainesville, the calamondin is much utilized for greenhouse research on the various aspects of flowering and fruiting in Citrus. ” The calamondin is as cold-hardy as the Satsuma orange and can be grown all along the Gulf Coast of the southern United States. It is moderately drought-tolerant. The tree seems able to tolerate a wide range of soils from clay-loam in the Philippines to limestone or sand in Florida.

Propagation Calamondin trees may be easily grown from seeds, which are polyembryonic with 3 to 5 embryos each. For commercial fruit production in the Philippines, the trees are budded onto calamondin seedlings. In Florida, propagation by cuttings rooted under constant mist is the more common commercial procedure for pot culture. Even leaf-cuttings will root readily. Plants grown from cuttings fruit during the rooting period and will reach 18 to 24 in (45-60 cm) in height in 10 1/2 months. The flowers are self-fertile and require no cross-pollination.

Transplanted into a large container and well cared for, a calamondin will grow at the rate of 1 ft (30 cm) per year; will produce an abundant crop of fruit at the age of 2 years and will continue to bear the year around. Potted plants for shipment can be stored in the dark for 2 weeks at 53. 6? F (12? C) without loss of leaves or fruits in storage or in subsequent transit and marketing. In orchard plantings, Philippine workers have established that a complete commercial fertilizer with a 1:1 nitrogen to potassium ratio gives the best growth.

There are 2 applications: one prior to the onset of the rainy season and the second just before the cessation of rains. Adequate moisture is the principal factor in yield, size and quality of the fruit. Drought and dehydrating winds often lead to mesophyll collapse. Harvesting Calamondins are harvested by clipping the stems as they become fully colored throughout the year. In the Philippines the peak season is mid-August through October. Storage The fruits will keep in good condition for 2 weeks at 48? to 50? F (8. 89? -10? C) and 90% relative humidity.

Weight loss will be only 6. 5%. Waxing retards ascorbic acid loss for 2 weeks in storage but not thereafter. Food Uses Calamondin halves or quarters may be served with iced tea, seafood and meats, to be squeezed for the acid juice. They were commonly so used in Florida before limes became plentiful. Some people boil the sliced fruits with cranberries to make a tart sauce. Calamondins are also preserved whole in sugar sirup, or made into sweet pickles, or marmalade. A superior marmalade is made by using equal quantities of calamondins and kumquats.

In Hawaii, a calamondin-papaya marmalade is popular. In Malaya, the calamondin is an ingredient in chutney. Whole fruits, fried in coconut oil with various seasonings, are eaten with curry. The preserved peel is added as flavoring to other fruits stewed or preserved. (Morton, 1987). Calamansi peelings contain a preservative called pectin that is generally used in preserving jams and Jellies. ( Cindy, 2009 ). Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls od terrestrial plants.

It was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot. It is produced commercially as a white to light brown powder, mainly extracted from citrus fruits and is used in food as a gelling agent particularly in jams and jellies. In plant cells, pectin consists of a complex set of polysaccharides (see below) that are present in most primary cell walls and particularly abundant in the non-woody parts of terrestrial plants. Pectin is present not only throughout primary cell walls but also in the middle lamella between plant cells where it helps to bind cells together.

The amount, structure and chemical composition of pectin differs among plants, within a plant over time and in various parts of a plant. During ripening, pectin is broken down by the enzymes pectinase and pectinesterase, in which process the fruit becomes softer as the middle lamellae break down and cells become separated from each other. A similar process of cell separation caused by the breakdown of pectin occurs in the abscission zone of the petioles of deciduous plants at leaf fall. Pectin is a natural part of human diet, but does not contribute significantly to nutrition.

The daily intake of pectin from fruits and vegetables can be estimated to be around 5 g (assuming consumption of approximately 500 g fruits and vegetables per day). In human digestion, pectin goes through the small intestine more or less intact. Pectin is thus a soluble dietary fiber. Consumption of pectin has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels. The mechanism appears to be an increase of viscosity in the intestinal tract, leading to a reduced absorption of cholesterol from bile or food.

In the large intestine and colon, microorganisms degrade pectin and liberate short-chain fatty acids that have positive influence on health (prebiotic effect). Apples, guavas, quince, plums, gooseberries, oranges and other citrus fruits, contain large amounts of pectin, while soft fruits like cherries, grapes and strawberries contain small amounts of pectin. The main raw-materials for pectin production are dried citrus peel or apple pomace, both by-products of juice production. Pomace from sugar-beet is also used to a small extent. From these materials, pectin is extracted by adding hot dilute acid at pH-values from 1. – 3. 5. During several hours of extraction, the protopectin loses some of its branching and chain-length and goes into solution. After filtering, the extract is concentrated in vacuum and the pectin then precipitated by adding ethanol or isopropanol. An old technique of precipitating pectin with aluminium salts is no longer used (apart from alcohols and polyvalent cations; pectin also precipitates with proteins and detergents). Alcohol-precipitated pectin is then separated, washed and dried. Treating the initial pectin with dilute acid leads to low-esterified pectins.

When this process includes ammonium hydroxide, amidated pectins are obtained. After drying and milling, pectin is usually standardised with sugar and sometimes calcium-salts or organic acids to have optimum performance in a particular application. Worldwide, approximately 40,000 metric tons of pectin are produced every year. The main use for pectin (vegetable agglutinate) is as a gelling agent, thickening agent and stabilizer in food. The classical application is giving the jelly-like consistency to jams or marmalades, which would otherwise be sweet juices.

For household use, pectin is an ingredient ingelling sugar (also known as "jam sugar") where it is diluted to the right concentration with sugar and some citric acid to adjust pH. In some countries, pectin is also available as a solution or an extract, or as a blended powder, for home jam making. For conventional jams and marmalades that contain above 60% sugar and soluble fruit solids, high-ester pectins are used. With low-ester pectins and amidated pectins less sugar is needed, so that diet products can be made.

Pectin can also be used to stabilize acidic protein drinks, such as drinking yogurt, and as a fat substitute in baked goods. Typical levels of pectin used as a food additive are between 0. 5 – 1. 0% - this is about the same amount of pectin as in fresh fruit. In medicine, pectin increases viscosity and volume of stool so that it is used against constipation and diarrhea. Until 2002, it was one of the main ingredients used in Kaopectate, along with kaolinite. Pectin is also used in throat lozenges as a demulcent. In cosmetic products, pectin acts as stabilizer.

Pectin is also used in wound healing preparations and specialty medical adhesives, such as colostomy devices. Also, it is considered a natural remedy for nausea. Pectin rich foods are proven to help nausea. Yablokov et al. , writing about the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, quote research conducted by the Ukrainian Center of Radiation Medicine and the Belarussian Institute of Radiation Medicine and Endocrinology with the conclusion that "adding pectin preparations to the food of inhabitants of the Chernobyl-contaminated regions promotes an effective excretion of incorporated radionuclides".

The authors report on the positive results of using pectin food additive preparations in a number of clinical studies conducted on children in severely polluted areas, with up to 50% improvement over control groups. In ruminant nutrition, depending on the extent of lignification of the cell wall, pectin is up to 90% digestible by bacterial enzymes. Ruminant nutritionists recommend that the digestibility and energy concentration in forages can be improved by increasing pectin concentration in the forage.

In the cigar industry, pectin is considered an excellent substitute for vegetable glue and many cigar smokers and collectors will use pectin for repairing damaged tobacco wrapper leaves on their cigars. For some odd reason, we humans have more sweat glands in our feet than anywhere else. The average human being has between two and five million sweat glands. And around 500,000 of them are located in our feet, making our feet the place of highest concentration of sweat glands. ( Hoyum, 2011 ). Sweaty feet are not actually smelly but some with sweaty feet are prone to being smelly.

People with foot odor usually produces more sweat than a regular foot. Sweat doesn’t have odor itself but when bacteria reacts on it, that’s the time that unnecessary odor is produced. There are two ways of getting rid of smelly feet. One is to remove the bacteria ob feet and the other one is two reduce sweating. Sweat makes an appropriate environment for bacteria so, the easy way out to prevent foot odor is to dry up one’s foot to dry up the bacterial environment. (Your Foot Health Inc. , 2011)