Nowadays, everyone is slowly understanding the benefits of eating a diet full of fruits and vegetables. Not long ago, Frugivore’s Arielle Loren asked readers if vegetarian men were better bed, a piece where she looked at several factors such as their stamina, their virility, and of all things their smell.

Considering that most people have a hard time smelling themselves (figuratively and literally), usually it takes a little birdie to tell them that they are living foul. That’s exactly what happened to Claire Rhodes, 34, from across the pond in England.

Hating her sister’s repugnant odor, which was later diagnosed as trimethylaminuria (TMAU), Claire’s sister remarked that before Claire went out, maybe she should brush her teeth at least three times because she stunk.

Trimethylaminuria is a metabolic disorder in which an individual is not able to break down TMAU into smaller compounds. Apparently, TMAU accumulates in the body of patients and gets released in the person’s sweat, urine, reproductive fluids, and breath, giving off a strong fishy odor. Some people with TMAU have a strong odor all the time, but most have a moderate smell that varies in intensity over time.

According to UK’s gossip rag The Sun, random people and her friends and family lambasted her for her “fishy” smell, making ugly comments like “she smelled like poo” and throwing packs of chewing gum at her. People can be so rude.

Meanwhile, Claire’s doctors didn’t properly diagnose her for over two years, dismissing her claims that she had TMAU after she saw a story about it on television. But after she was found out she had TMAU, a dietician put Claire on a strict diet and warned her to cut out any foods that make her disorder worse.

Claire is now on a strict vegetarian diet, only eating strawberries, pears, carrots, turnips, potatoes and salad. Additionally, she can eat honey and rice in small amounts as well as bread, but only if it is freshly baked.

Even more promising, Claire’s new diet helped her lose over 84 pounds. But Claire feels her real motivation was and always is her children, all of whom kept her spirits bright throughout her struggles with her fishy odor.

Well, it looks like another win for fruits and vegetables as a way help people detox and attain optimal health. Maybe there is something to vegetarian men smelling better than their omnivore counterparts  … I hope so for my own sake.

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4 Comments

  1. She looks amazing!

  2. I’m not surprised, when I went on an all raw produce diet for a few months I didn’t need deodorant, I never had morning breath and my bowels had no odor. Not to mention a ton of other benefits including bright glowing skin. Too bad it’s hard as h*ll to eat like that or I’d have kept it up LOL.

  3. What is the name of claire rhodes dietician?

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