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9 foods that cause body odor and what to do about it

Kraig Pakulski 0 75 Article rating: No rating

Grilled steak on a wooden cutting board and a glass of red wine.

sweet marshmallow // Shutterstock

 

Let’s face it, body odor is something we all deal with at some point. It’s not just about skipping a shower or a missed swipe of deodorant. Sometimes, it’s the foods we love that can crank up the smell factor. But don’t worry, you don’t have to ditch your favorite dishes entirely. Degree discusses the foods that cause body odor and how you can manage it without giving up the flavors you love.

The usual suspects: Foods that cause body odor

1. Garlic and onions

Onions and garlic are kitchen staples that are notorious for their strong smell. When you eat them, the sulfur compounds they contain get absorbed into your bloodstream and are released through your pores when you sweat. While they add a punch to your meals, they can also add a punch to your personal aroma.

2. Red meat

This one might surprise you. Red meat is harder for your body to digest, which means it can linger in your gut longer. This process can lead to an increase in body odor as your body works overtime to break it down.

3. Cruciferous vegetables

Broccoli, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts are packed with nutrients, but they also contain sulfur. Like garlic and onions, these veggies can lead to a more noticeable body odor when they break down in your body.

4. Alcohol

Enjoying a drink or two is all good, but remember that alcohol is metabolized into acetic acid, which can be released through your sweat. This can give your body odor a bit of a sour note.

5. Fish

Some fish, like tuna and salmon, contain choline, which can cause a fishy smell in some people when metabolized.

6. Fruits

Certain fruits, like durian, are notorious for their strong odor. While not common in every diet, they can contribute to body odor if consumed regularly.

7. Dairy

Lactose intolerance can lead to digestive issues, which in turn can cause an increase in body odor.

8. Greasy fast food

Burgers, fries, and deep-fried anything. These high-fat foods can slow down digestion and lead to an overworked system. That sluggish digestion? It can show up as stronger body odor, especially if your liver is working overtime to process all that grease.

9. Processed foods

Chips, deli meats, frozen dinners—many processed foods are loaded with artificial additives, preservatives, and excess sodium. These can mess with your gut bacteria and make you sweat more, which can amplify body odor.

Why do these foods cause body odor?

The main culprit behind body odor is the interaction between sweat and bacteria on your skin. Foods like gar

What you need to know about a $50,000 personal loan

Kraig Pakulski 0 78 Article rating: No rating

Serious young to middle aged couple discussing expenses at table with papers, a laptop and a calculator.

fizkes // Shutterstock

 

When you’re ready to make big moves in your life, you may need more resources. A large personal loan could offer the funds you need quickly and affordably, with steady payments that you can plan for in your monthly budget.

It’s wise to learn more about how a large debt works before you apply for something like a $50,000 personal loan. That way, you can assess how likely you are to be approved and how you’ll manage repayment of your loan. Achieve compiled this guide to help consumers understand large personal loan options.

Key takeaways:

  • Lenders may have higher requirements to approve a $50,000 unsecured personal loan compared to smaller loans or secured loans.
  • Calculate how much you truly need to borrow, so you can match your loan to your goals.
  • Comparison shop for loan options to make sure you’re landing the best deal from a lender you trust.

What you need to know about a $50,000 personal loan

Most personal loans are unsecured loans. Unsecured loans are not attached to collateral. Collateral is something of value that you pledge as a guarantee that you’ll repay the loan. Collateral is a safety net for lenders. If you don’t repay the loan, the lender could sell your collateral to recover the money you owe.

Lenders typically charge slightly higher interest rates on unsecured debts because you don’t put up something of value to guarantee the loan.

Even so, there are many advantages to unsecured personal loans. You could receive your money quickly—sometimes as fast as just a few days. Personal loans also generally come with fixed interest rates, so your payment amount stays the same each month until the loan is paid off.

Monthly payment and cost examples

Many people focus on the monthly payment when they take out a personal loan. That’s an important consideration to ensure it fits within your budget, but it’s a smart idea to also look at the fees and total amount of interest you’ll pay over the life of your loan. After all, this is the price tag of the loan itself.

You could use a personal loan calculator to see the total cost of the loan by the time you pay it off. You’ll need the annual percentage rate (APR), which includes the yearly cost of fees and interest, the term length, and the loan amount.

Here’s how the same $50,000 personal loan looks with different interest rates and terms. A lower interest rate means you’ll pay less interest over the life of the loan. A shorter term means your monthly payments will be higher, but you’ll also pay less interest overall compared to the same loan spread out over more years.

A table showing the amount, term, monthly payment, APR, and total interest paid for various loan amounts.Read more

What would ‘concealed carry reciprocity’ mean for states with tighter gun laws?

Kraig Pakulski 0 96 Article rating: No rating

A sign prohibiting firearms at Willie's Bar & Grill posted on the fence outside in St. Helena Island, South Carolina.

Sean Rayford // Getty Images

 

Over the last three decades, carrying concealed guns in public in the United States has become easier and easier. First, in the 1990s, states began to guarantee permits to anyone who could legally own a firearm. Then, beginning in the mid-2000s, states started removing permit requirements altogether.

Now, a majority of states — 29 as of 2025 — require no license to carry a loaded gun in public, a policy known as permitless carry. But what happens when a resident of one of those states wants to carry their handgun in one of the 21 states that does require a permit?

That led a reader to send in a question concerning concealed carry reciprocity, or when one state recognizes the concealed carry permits of another. The reader asked:

“If your state has decent laws, which Michigan where I live has (ok) gun laws, the constituents of my state still have to follow our state’s laws. But could someone from Louisiana come here and have the very lax laws of their state apply to them while visiting Michigan? Is it a race to the bottom?”

It’s a timely question. Congress may vote as soon as this month on a bill that would require national concealed carry reciprocity, effectively allowing the residents of those 29 permitless carry states to carry guns nationwide without a license. The Trace dives into the specifics of concealed carry reciprocity, and what a nationwide law — a longtime gun rights goal — would look like.

What is concealed carry reciprocity?

Concealed carry reciprocity refers to the patchwork of state laws, policies, and agreements that determine whether one state honors concealed carry permits from another state, allowing permittees to travel across state lines with their guns.

Importantly, “reciprocity” is often not mutual: Recognition of out-of-state permits varies widely, and many arrangements are unilateral rather than formal two-way agreements.

Some states adopt broad recognition — for example, North Carolina and the reader’s home state of Michigan recognize permits from any state.

Others condition recognition on comparable standards, including fingerprint-based background checks, mental health disqualifiers, age requirements, or live-fire training. For instance, Minnesota recognizes permits from 33 states whose requirements its attorney general has deemed similar to Minnesota’s.

From there, it can get even more complicated. Washington state — which won’t recognize other states’ permits if they don’t require mental health background checks, or if they issue permits to people under 21 — only recognizes 10 states’ permits, and of those, sometimes only honors enhanced permits that have stricter eligibility requirements like live-fire training.

At least 10 states, including California, Oregon, and New York, and the District of Columbia, do not honor any out-of-state permi

What it costs to live in America’s iconic holiday movie towns

Kraig Pakulski 0 98 Article rating: No rating

Person poses with the classic

Michael Gordon // Shutterstock

 

Picture your favorite holiday movie. Maybe it’s a scene from “Home Alone” in Illinois, or one of the dozens of Hallmark films set in small-town New England (even though many are filmed in Canada). You probably remember them for their snow, romance, humor, and festive miracles — they may have even made you want to visit or live in the towns they depict.

But what are these places like in real life? If you were to move to one of these places today, could you afford to settle down, or would the price tag break the holiday spell?

Redfin Real Estate explores how affordable some of the most iconic movie towns really are. From timeless classics to contemporary hits, cozy up and take a snow-covered journey that may make you think about things a little differently.

1. “Home Alone” (1990) – Winnetka, Illinois

  • Median sale price: $1,758,000
  • Median household income: $250,000

You may remember the classic brick homes and snow-covered lawns of the “Home Alone” world, where Kevin fended off two bumbling burglars and learned to outsmart the grown-ups around him.

The movie is set in real-life Winnetka, Illinois, and on the surface, it might seem like a great place to live. But most people would have a hard time affording it. Homes regularly sell in the millions in this upscale suburb, and six-figure salaries are the norm. In fact, the real-life home of the fictional McCallister family, dubbed the “Home Alone house,” sold for $5.5 million in early 2025.

On the whole, Chicago is relatively affordable, but its suburbs are often wealthy and defined by classic American architecture.

2. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) – Seneca Falls, New York

  • Median sale price: $260,000
  • Median household income: $54,400

This holiday classic is set in the fictional town of Bedford Falls, which is commonly thought to be based on Seneca Falls in Upstate New York — a quiet, snowy hamlet full of small-town charm. The real-life town even celebrates its Hollywood connection with a dedicated museum and large annual festival.

If you saw the movie’s quaint streets, string lights, and old-school charm and thought it would be a nice place to visit or live, you’re in luck. Seneca Falls’ median sale price is nearly half the national rate, similar to nearby cities like Rochester and Syracuse.

3. “A Christmas Story” (1983) – Cleveland, Ohio

  • Median sale price: $249,000
  • Median hous

Don’t fall for the latest AI scams: Here’s what to know

Kraig Pakulski 0 72 Article rating: No rating

A person's smartphone receiving an unknown call with a red alert.

tete_escape // Shutterstock

 

From science fiction wonder to reality, AI is all the rage, with countless powerful AI tools becoming widely available for public use. It can be wildly helpful, whether you need help writing an important email, a workout routine, or even a last-minute dinner recipe. Unfortunately, AI has also helped scammers step up their game, in some cases to scary-good levels. 

Today, Spokeo takes a look at what exactly AI scams are, including what they look like and how to spot them. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • AI technology is empowering scammers to run even more convincing scams.
  • Watch out for scams that use voices and/or faces you recognize.
  • Social media is a hotbed of AI-powered accounts and influencers. Beware of any messages you receive or posts you see that request private information or money.
  • Look for common signs of AI, including “the uncanny valley,” abnormalities in a video or photo, and odd speech patterns that are overly repetitive and vague.

What Are AI Scams?

Let’s start from the very top. AI scams use artificial intelligence tools to create sophisticated and often personalized content to effectively target and trick victims. AI is capable of allowing scammers to copy voices and faces, making it almost impossible to tell if a phone call or video is actually the person you’re hearing or seeing. It is scary stuff — especially if you don’t know how to spot it.

Beyond impersonation scams, AI also allows scammers to take a mass approach to email and text scams. Classically, scammers needed to actively interact with victims who emailed or texted them back in order to move the scam along. Now, with a properly trained AI, scammers have technology that can do all of the interacting on their behalf, and do so on a much bigger scale (essentially creating a little army of AI scammers). 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. With AI rapidly improving, there’s a 100% chance that AI-related scams will improve with it. But, for now, let’s look at some of the most current AI scams.

Common AI Scams

Here’s how scammers are using AI to trick their victims.

AI Voice Scams

Imagine this: You get a call from a loved one, explaining an emergency situation that they need your help with — what do you do? Classically, you probably jump into action, no questions asked. After all, you just talked to them on the phone. Now, you might need to take a beat to sus out if that call was real, or if it was using AI voice cloning. 

AI voice scams operate by either cloning a loved one’s voice or even a recognizable authority figure. They will then call you using the cloned voice, and present a situa

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