For some people, body odor might be caused by foods that contain sulfur, such as broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, says Lily Talakoub, M.D., a dermatologist at McLean Dermatology and Skincare Center. “Regardless of whether you eat them raw or if you cook them, it’s the way the body breaks it down,” she says.

These foods release sulfur — typically responsible for that rotten egg smell — as you digest them, which makes its way to your sweat glands, brewing some pungent B.O. in the process.

This link hasn’t been researched thoroughly enough to establish a definite relationship, so you don’t need to avoid sulfurous vegetables entirely, especially since they’re packed with disease-fighting health benefits.

But if you eat them regularly and suspect they could be contributing to your body odor, it doesn’t hurt to occasionally switch things up. Go for other colorful fruits and vegetables that don’t contain as much sulfur, like squash, sweet potato, eggplant, oranges, and peaches.

Any type of food that makes your breath reek is bad news for B.O.

A major culprit? Garlic and onions. “You can’t discount the fact that people are emitting most of the odors through their mouth,” Preti says. “Every time they are breathing, they are exhaling onions and garlic, which creates a little cloud around them of [onion or] garlic smell.”

Coffee and canned fish may cause a similar issue. Brushing your teeth and drinking plenty of water after a particularly fragrant meal helps, since you’ll flush away food particles and bacteria.

A metabolic disorder called trimethylaminuria (TMAU) can actually make you smell like one of the most recognizable odors out there — rotten fish

Commonly known as fish odor syndrome, people suffering from TMAU can’t break down trimethylamine, a compound that has a fishy smell. When you digest certain foods, like eggs, fish, or even some vegetables, your body produces trimethylamine in your intestines. As it builds up in your body, it’s released through your urine, breath, sweat, and semen, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

The condition is considered rare by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), but one 2011 study of 353 people with previously unexplained B.O. found that 118 of those patients tested positive for TMAU. There’s no established cure, but treatment options include cutting trimethylamine-rich foods out of your diet and using special soaps or washes.

That slab of steak could be stinking up your sweat, according to research published in the journal Chemical Senses. For the study, researchers had one group of guys eat red meat twice a day for two weeks while another group ate no red meat at all for the same time period.

During the last 24 hours of the experiment, the men wore pads under their armpits to collect their body odor. Then, the researchers had 30 women sniff and rate each one these pads for intensity, sexual attractiveness, and masculinity. The verdict? The guys who didn’t eat meat smelled more pleasant and attractive.

That doesn’t necessarily prove that red meat is directly causing your smelly pits, especially because only 17 men were involved in the study, but it hints at a possible link. The researchers theorize that the fat content in red meat may mess with the chemicals your armpits produce in your sweat glands. As the bacteria on your skin feed on those fatty acids, they create a particularly pungent odor.

Downing too much booze can pave the way for particularly awful morning breath, according to a study published in the Journal of Dental Research.

After assesing the breath of nearly 90 adults, the study authors found that people who regularly drink alcohol have a unique type of breath, possibly because the alcohol in your mouth or liver reacts with other chemicals to produce “odorous byproducts,” like acetaldehyde, a liquid with a strong “suffocating smell,” according to the NIH.

Alcohol can also dry out your mouth, which is a problem, since saliva typically washes away the dead cells that build up in your mouth. When those dead cells just hang out, they start to decompose, giving off gross breath.

Try to stick to just two drinks a day, the recommended limit for men. If you have to hit up happy hour, check out these five products to help you get rid of bad breath before you head to bed.