Does Drinking Alcohol Make Me Smell Bad?

If you’ve ever been to a hot yoga class on a Sunday morning and are overwhelmed by the smell of tequila emanating from the room once people start sweating, then you’re no stranger to the phenomenon of the “alcohol smell” that can linger on us after we’ve been drinking. Or perhaps a friend kindly recommended a shower because they could smell it on you. Eek! No one wants to hear that! But props to having good friends to tell us things like this.

So does drinking alcohol actually make us smell bad? And can we do anything to prevent it from happening? If you’ve ever wondered about this, read on.

The Science Behind Body Odor and Alcohol

There isn’t a specific term for the smell of alcohol on us when we’re drinking or after we’ve been drinking, but the odor we produce when we’ve been drinking is typically referred to as “alcohol breath” or “booze breath.” The smell of alcohol itself can range from sweet and fruity to sharp and pungent, depending on the type of alcohol we’ve been drinking. And it’s not always on our breath; it can be released in our sweat and through the pores of our skin.

Here’s a breakdown of how the process works. When we drink alcohol, our body undergoes a process known as alcohol metabolism. With the help of our digestive enzymes, our liver breaks down ethanol, the primary component in alcoholic drinks. One of these enzymes — alcohol dehydrogenase — converts ethanol into acetaldehyde, which is then further metabolized into acetic acid before being excreted or released from our bodies.

Think about it this way: our body needs to process everything we consume. In other words, the alcohol has to go somewhere. So, when our liver is already working overtime to process the alcohol we’ve consumed, what’s left over gets released throughout the rest of our body — most prominently through our skin, pores, and breath. 

For heavy drinkers or those of us who have been drinkers for many years, we may have developed a serious buildup of toxins in our bodies from repeated use over time. Detoxing from some substances, particularly alcohol, is associated with a significant odor that does, indeed, make us stink. Speaking of detoxification, why do we seem to sweat more after we drink? We’ll explain that, too.

Why Do I Sweat After Drinking Alcohol?

Alcohol consumption can lead to increased sweating for some of us. When alcohol enters our bloodstream, it affects our central nervous system and disrupts our body's normal regulatory mechanisms, including those that regulate our temperature control. Alcohol causes blood vessels near the skin to dilate, leading to a sensation of warmth and potentially triggering our body's cooling mechanisms, including sweating. Alcohol consumption can also stimulate our sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the body's fight-or-flight response. This stimulation can lead to an increase in sweat production as our body responds to the perceived “stress” that alcohol causes. Drinking alcohol can also cause us to experience night sweats.

How Do I Stop Smelling Like Alcohol? 

So, how do we stop this from happening and avoid the booze smell? Of course, the best way to avoid smelling like alcohol is to abstain from it altogether or practice moderation, which is typically defined as one drink per day for women and two drinks a day for men.

Here are several other ways to avoid smelling like alcohol: 

• Maintain good hygiene. Maintaining good personal hygiene is key to avoiding smelling like alcohol. Shower often, wash our hair, and practice good oral hygiene. Brush, floss, and carry some mints or gum!
• Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Staying hydrated is key to avoiding smelling like alcohol. Water helps flush out our systems and keeps us feeling good overall. The more water we drink, the less booze there is flowing through us.
• Break a sweat. The best way to kick-start our metabolism is to get moving! Exercising speeds up the metabolism process so we can detoxify alcohol, and everything else from our bodies more quickly. When in doubt, sweat it out! 
• Drink less. Reducing our drinking or drinking in moderation are two surefire ways to avoid smelling like alcohol. If it’s not there in the first place, we never have to worry about this problem and can smell fresh and clean without worrying about the booze smell.

What we put into our body must come out, so not drinking alcohol is the most obvious way to avoid smelling like it.

Health Benefits of Drinking Less

In addition to avoiding the alcohol smell, there are many health benefits associated with drinking less: 

• Better sleep quality
• Smelling better 🙂
• Better mental health
• Improved clarity/focus
• Better overall physical health

Read more about the many positive effects we experience when we stop drinking or cut back on drinking.

The Bottom Line of Booze and Body Odor

When it comes to drinking and smelling bad, it’s simply a reality that comes with the territory. If we want to avoid this risk altogether, the answer is easy: eliminate alcohol from the equation. Practicing good personal hygiene, moderation, and exercise are great ways to reduce the risks of smelling bad if we choose to partake in alcohol.