Ammonia smelling sweat.

Ammonia smelling sweat.2014-03-13T15:43:16+00:00
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  • simonfordham2002
    Participant
    Post count: 1

    Hi, my name is Simon Fordham and I have been practising for a little more than a year, on average about 5 or 6 classes a week.
    Pretty well always my sweat smells very strongly of ammonia and I am concerned that this may be dangerous.
    I have the impression that it is better if I eat a couple of glucose tablets directly before class.
    Does anyone know much about ketosis or ketoacidosis
    Am interested in your comments.

    Bobobishop
    Participant
    Post count: 1

    A reduced carb diet will cause ammonia-smelling sweat. Have you changed your diet recently?

    Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
    Forum Owner
    Post count: 3047

    Hi Simon

    Rita is correct in asking you that question! Have you embarked on a high protein/low carbohydrate diet? If you have and it’s only your sweat that’s smelling then you can fix that by changing the amount of carbs you consume. Drinking more water will also help (remember electrolytes/sea salt will help). If your breath is smelling like ammonia that’s completely different and you need to see a doctor immediately.

    Namaste
    Gabrielle 🙂

    avancouw
    Participant
    Post count: 8

    Hi,

    I also have noticed that my towel smells strongly of ammonia after class. Out of curiosity I did some research. It seems that at a molecular level this happens because your body makes ammonia when it’s forced to consume proteins for energy.

    The interesting thing for me is that I am NOT on a low carbohydrate diet. Maybe my intake of carbs has gone down just because I’m more conscious of what I’m eating than I was a year ago, but I don’t avoid carbs. My most common breakfast is a bowl of multigrain oatmeal. For lunch I almost always eat a sandwich and I love having thick slices of bread. My dinners normally incorporate rice, seafood, and steamed vegetables in some combination.

    I will have to talk to my doctor about this, but I have a theory: it’s not that my diet is too low on carbs, it’s more likely that I’m just drinking a very low-carb electrolyte drink. My drink of choice during practice has been nuun (the no caffeine type), literally 2g of carbs in a serving and none of those are simple sugar.

    I also have a more active than average metabolism, I also arrive at class having eaten almost nothing in the previous four hours. Probably all of those things contribute. But I wonder about those glucose tabs. Simon, did the glucose tabs help you?

    Since the ammonia smell means my body is metabolizing protein for energy, I definitely want to see what I need to do to reduce it. That’s not exactly ideal – I think we want to use proteins to build muscle, right? Switching to Gatorade or any other sugary electrolyte drink isn’t an option. They make me sick to my stomach.

    Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
    Forum Owner
    Post count: 3047

    Hi Aaron

    I am also interested in seeing what Simon says! 😉 Maybe he is not getting the notification for this thread. Have you tried PMing him?

    I wanted to know if eating a little closer to class might make it easier. Glucose tablets are so easy and cheap that it’s probably worth you carrying out your own experiment. If you do, please come back and report.

    Namaste
    Gabrielle 🙂

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