Sweat Smelling Like Ammonia

CookNLift

I was just curious if anyone else has ever had a situation where their sweat would smell like ammonia? I shower twice a day and I wear deodorant but for some reason this morning, my clean sweatshirt had an ammonia smell to it after my workout, specifically in the areas I saw sweat.

I read some where that it could be due to my body not having enough carbohydrates, and the body is burning protein as fuel which causes the sweat one produces to smell like ammonia, but I have been hitting my IIFYM carbohydrate intake for the most part, save perhaps 50-80g on some days.

It was really embarrassing to smell that when I was getting out of the shower and I don't know what I should do or if there are any supplements I should take to avoid this. You can check my diary to see if there is anything I may be doing wrong, but I have been trying to make sure I increase my complex carb intake in the morning and early afternoon before my workout, and switch to simple carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, etc) in the later afternoon and evening, while spreading out my protein intake throughout the day. Should I be increasing my carbhydrate intake in the morning or before my workout, or is this just something I should see a doctor about?

Lisah8969

That happens to me on occasion as well. I haven't tracked it enough to know what it is that I am eating or not eating when it happens. But yes, it would be nice to know if there was a way I could stop it from happening. No one has ever commented to me about it, so maybe (hopefully) it smells worse to me than to others around me.

brower47

It happens to me after a strenuous workout when when I'm high on my protein intakes and low on my carbs. I asked this once before and that's the answer I got as well. I started to look at the previous day's intake when I'd noticed it and it fits the trend. It's nothing to worry about.

Madelinec117

I thought it was just me, so it go me to thinking. I often have that problem after intense cardio. I found this information when I did a search and found an article that seems to explain it well.

http://www.just-health.net/Sweat-Smells-Like-Ammonia.html

hookilau

I've had that happen a few times over the course of the past year. I'm on a ketogenic diet but for a time, was way too high on protein ratio. At the time, that's the only time I'd noticed the ammonia smell.

Now that I've increased the amount of fat I eat & decreased protein, ammonia smell is gone. I have NO IDEA whether changing the ratio of my macros has anything to do with it, but since I keep my carbs to < g per day, I thought it might be worth mentioning.

I suppose it can't hurt to see a doctor though

edited for clarification

hookilau

I thought it was just me, so it go me to thinking. I often have that problem after intense cardio. I found this information when I did a search and found an article that seems to explain it well.

http://www.just-health.net/Sweat-Smells-Like-Ammonia.html

thanks for the link, that was helpful and makes sense to me (in my case).

CookNLift

It happens to me after a strenuous workout when when I'm high on my protein intakes and low on my carbs. I asked this once before and that's the answer I got as well. I started to look at the previous day's intake when I'd noticed it and it fits the trend. It's nothing to worry about.

ahh that's probably what it is. I have been limiting my complex carbs later in the day, and when i go in the morning to work out, I am probably low on carbohydrates and glucose because the oatmeal i have in the morning isn't enough to sustain during my workout, and i should have increased carbs the night before to absorb that day. That makes a lot of sense, thank you.

I don't do strenuous cardio, I just wear my sweatshirt to sweat more / absorb, put it on the highest incline and go for about 12-20 minutes on the 2.0-2.5 walking speed (like a fast walk) to get my heart rate up before I lift.

mojohowitz

It happens to me after a strenuous workout when when I'm high on my protein intakes and low on my carbs. I asked this once before and that's the answer I got as well. I started to look at the previous day's intake when I'd noticed it and it fits the trend. It's nothing to worry about.

Same here. My breath starts to taste a bit metallic also.

lastspen

I've been noticing that I smell differently now after I work out as well. I started using Amino Energy and that's when I personally started to notice it.