In an age where health is made to be more of a concern than it ever was before, just about everyone has tried some sort of fad diet at one time or another. Unfortunately, while they might help people shed the pounds rather quickly, they often come with some not-so-pleasant side effects - one of which is "keto crotch".

This delightful term takes its name from the diet that causes it: an eating regime championed by the likes of Gwenyth Paltrow and Jenna Jameson.

The keto diet requires followers to cut all carbs from their meals, instead replacing them with fats and proteins. In response to this, the body releases 'ketones' from the liver: chemicals that break down fat for energy. But ketones can have other impacts on the body... the vagina, in particular.

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"The saying 'you are what you eat' holds true to odors coming from the vagina," said OB/GYN Dr. Sherry A. Ross in an interview with the Daily Mail.

As it turns out, the ketones that break down fats can cause pungent odours to come from the body - most noticeably in a person's breath or sweat, but also through their vagina. In this latter case, the smell is caused by a change in the pH of the vagina.

But, as Dr. Ross explains, there are plenty of foods that can affect the odour down there.

"Pungent foods and spices seem to take a fast lane in our bodies through the bloodstream, lungs, sweat, and vaginal secretions creating especially intense smells under arms, on the scalp, in the genital area…just about everywhere," she said. "Foods that may give off a notably offensive odor include garlic, onions, mint, turmeric, curry, blue cheese and other fermented foods, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, and asparagus."

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If you're worried about your own diet affecting you, thankfully there are some foods that can actually improve the odour. "These foods include fresh fruit, fruit juices, whole grains and Greek yogurt," according to Ross.

Not everybody will experience a change in odour on the keto diet, nor will everyone be equally affected by smelly foods. Luckily, Ross has some advice for those who want to know if they should expect a change in scent.

"If a food gives you foul-smelling urine, farts, or breath, chances are it will affect the taste and smell of your vagina," she said.

But if dietary changes are made and the smell persists, it could be something else.

"After a thorough examination of possible dietary changes, I would suggest seeing your healthcare provider to eliminate the possibility of vaginal infection."

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As always, the best advice is to avoid fad diets as much as possible, and to eat a nutritional, balanced diet. If you notice a bad smell and you're doing everything you're supposed to in order to stay in good shape, you may want to visit a doctor to find out what's going on.

When it comes to dieting, people usually have a few different goals in mind. Some people will adjust their diet for financial or ethical reasons, others will want to lead a healthy life, and some just want to lose weight. Each of these are valid and effective motivations, but some diets might be more useful for weight loss than they are general health.

One of these diets that's proven especially popular in recent times is the ketogenic diet, which has been adopted by Halle Berry, Jenna Jameson and more - more affectionately known as keto. It's gained a ton of popularity in recent times, because if you do it right, it allows you to lose weight while eating a lot of bacon, cheese and avocado.

If you do it right.

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But unfortunately, more and more experts are warning against going on the keto diet, especially with your long-term health in mind. While the idea of cutting down on carbs seems like a great idea in concept, it's already something we've seen crash and burn before with the Atkins diet, which came with delightful side-effects such as excessive thirst, bad breath, the 'meat sweats' (really not fun) as well as some good old constipation.

The keto diet works on a slightly different principle. It's designed to trigger a process known as ketosis; where your body switches from burning carbs to burning fat instead, allowing you to lose weight by doing little more than eating fatty food and sticking with exercise.

Nutritionist Dana James explains that the keto diet was initially designed for people living with epilepsy. "The ketogenic diet was not developed for fat loss but rather for epilepsy. It is a diet I endorse for neurological issues but not fat loss," she revealed.

“I like the idea, the basic concept," said Dr. Kim Williams, former president of the American College of Cardiology, to Plant Based News. "You change your dietary habits and you change something. Unfortunately, the science of it is wrong. If all you wanted was short-term weight loss — and short-term could be a year or two — if that's all you’re looking for, great.”

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Long term, going onto the keto diet could have a lot of similar side effects as with the Atkins - primarily, constipation.  James says that the ratio of nutrients - 60 percent fat, 35 percent protein, and five percent carbs - mean things can go very wrong if you're on it too long.

"If you follow these ratios strictly you won’t have enough plant fiber or phytonutrients for regular bowel movements — you’ll be constipated — your skin will lose its vibrancy, and you’ll disrupt the gut micro-biome, which feeds off the plant fiber, and this will have an adverse impact on your mood and thyroid. Of course, none of this shows up straight away, but it will."

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So there you have it, folks. If you're looking to shed pounds rapidly for a special occasion like a vacation or a wedding, then it might work to go on the keto diet. If you're looking to lose weight and keep it off for a long time, there might be a more suitable diet plan out there for you.

For a great deal of us, recurring bad breath can be a bit of a problem. It doesn't seem to make a difference how much water you drink, or how many times you brush your teeth, or how much spearmint gum you get through in a day - the unpleasant oral odors just keep on creeping back. Fortunately, halitosis doesn't have to be a chronic issue, and there are ways of fixing it. First of all, though, you need to figure out what's causing it - and here's a list of the usual suspects...

1. A low-carb diet

While a low-carb diet is a convenient way to shed weight quickly, it's not the healthiest route to go down. See, when the body starts using fat instead of carbs to burn energy, it creates molecules called ketones. These ketones then leave the body through the breath or urine - bringing with them a smell which is often comparable to rotten fruit.

2. Acid reflux

Also known as heartburn, acid reflux happens when acid from your stomach works its way up towards your mouth. This leaves people experiencing a sour taste after eating a meal, which then ends up being exhaled as an unpleasant odor. Some solutions to this are to eat smaller, more frequent meals, to lose weight if you're currently overweight, and to avoid smoking or excessive drinking.

3. Hunger

We know that not drinking enough leads to funky mouth smells, but not eating enough has the same effect. Basically, because there's not as much saliva in your mouth, bacteria is able to multiply more easily. Much like keeping a bottle of water handy to quench your thirst, having a piece of fruit or a healthy snack when you're feeling peckish will also help to keep the stinky breath at bay.

4. A high-protein diet

When you eat a lot of meat and raw protein, the amount of ammonia in your body increases. This, in turn, causes "fishy" smelling breath - and nobody wants to get too close to that.

5. Sinus infections

A runny nose, fever, headaches, and shortness of breath are all indicators of a sinus infection. This often causes bad breath because of increased bacteria levels in the body and damage to the respiratory system. Seeking treatment for the infection will not only get you back to good health, then, it'll also get rid of your halitosis problem.

It goes without saying, however, that if you don't practice good oral hygiene, you're bound to have some grossness going on in your mouth. Remember to eat healthily, brush your teeth regularly, and avoid dehydration by drinking fluids throughout the day. Oh, and if you know you're going to be locking lips with someone at any point, keep a small pack of gum on you just in case.

The human body is capable of some seriously impressive things. It has ways of keeping us cool when we're too hot, mechanisms to help us see when it's too dark, and a built-in immune system to help us recover when we get sick. Unfortunately, it also does some pretty gross things. We've got wax and mucus and lord knows what else lurking about in our orifices - not to mention all the bacteria that's lingering on our skin and inside our bodies. For the most part, though, these disgusting things are there to serve a purpose, and are just part of being human. One of the less enjoyable parts of the human body is its propensity to produce unsavory breath - and here are nine things that may be causing it.

1. Eating a low carb diet

As healthy as it may sound, sticking to a diet which is low in carbohydrates might just lead to some unwanted side effects. More specifically, replacing carbs with fat (a recommendation under the keto or Atkins diet) can cause unpleasant mouth odors.

"If your body is running primarily on fat for energy - instead of carbs - this is when the problem occurs," explains Dr. Harold Katz, a dentist and bacteriologist. "For some people, this is a sign of success because they are expecting to have symptoms of halitosis when trying to lose weight, but this can actually put a lot of stress on your kidneys because there is an excess of ketones."

2. Having sinus infection

It's getting to that time of year when everybody starts to get ill - and one of the symptoms of this might be smelly breath. If you have a sinus infection, mucus from your nose can end up going down your throat and settling on the back of your tongue (gross).

According to Dr. Katz, this is "where anaerobic or ‘bad breath’ bacteria live." When the mucus settles there, it "coats the bacteria and ‘feeds’ it with amino acids, cysteine and methionine (protein building blocks) leading to the rapid onset of halitosis."

3. Being overweight

Carrying a bit of extra weight on your frame can cause a whole host of problems from joint pain to heart problems to potentially fatal conditions. Unfortunately, it causes unsavory breath, too - and it's not hard to guess why.

"Overweight people may be grazing on food over extended periods of time," says Dr. Katz. "The longer teeth are exposed to sugars and other carbohydrates, the more susceptible they become to developing oral issues that can lead to bad breath."

4. Using birth control

So this might seem like a weird one but, considering the number of people worldwide who use birth control, it could be a major cause of bad breath across the planet.

"Oral contraceptives designed to increase estrogen and/or progesterone levels in the body to prevent pregnancy may lead to dry mouth or post-nasal drip, increasing the chances of developing bad breath," says Dr. Katz.

5. Chewing gum

This is probably the most surprising item on the list, as chewing gum is almost always marketed as a product to make your breath less stinky. Of course, the occasional stick of spearmint goodness won't do you any harm, but having too much of the stuff could lead to some undesirable results.

Dr. Katz says: "Sucking mints or chewing gum does serve as a good occasional short-term fix, but if they contain sugar then they may only eventually worsen the situation. Leaving sugar in the mouth for extended periods of time can lead to an accumulation of sticky plaque on the teeth."

6. Not eating enough

We've already learned that eating too much of the wrong foods or not eating enough of the right foods can cause halitosis - but simply avoiding food altogether will also have a detrimental effect on the state of your mouth.

"Whatever your reason for fasting, without regular meals or fluids, the mouth slows its production of saliva," says Dr. Katz. "Without this bacteria-fighting moisture in the mouth, your tongue and palate can start breeding billions of extra bacteria leading to the onset of bad breath."

7. Having dry mouth

This might sound like stating the obvious, but it's not. Dry mouth is the name of a condition which causes a person to have a lack of saliva. This, in turn, allows for a build-up of bacteria: the stuff that causes your stinky mouth.

"There are many reasons dry mouth becomes a problem," Dr. Katz explains. "Sometimes it’s due to age, but it can also be caused by prescription medications, antihistamines, adult beverages, tobacco, coffee, having to do a lot of talking, alcohol-based mouthwash, diet and many other factors."

8. Being diabetic

This is linked to the above point, as people who have problems producing insulin are also likely to develop dry mouth.

“Individuals suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes are at risk of developing dry mouth (xerostomia)," Dr Katz confirms. "Abnormal insulin production and/or absorption rates, which occur in diabetes, can cause the salivary glands to not release adequate amounts of saliva and lead to occurrences of dry mouth and bad breath."

9. Being dehydrated

Yes, it had to make the list at some point. Not keeping your body hydrated is probably the most common cause of nasty breath, but is also the easiest to avoid.

"Individuals who get dehydrated generally do not drink much water, but this can help reduce the risk of bad breath because it rinses the mouth of food particles between brushings," says Dr. Katz. "These food particles often linger between teeth and along the gum-line and can be the source of unpleasant aromas."

There you have it, then. If you find yourself suffering from some particularly gross mouth odors, these might offer some insight into what's going on.

There's a ton of reasons you might want to lose weight.

Maybe you've got a big event (like a wedding) to think about. Perhaps, in going to put on your favourite jeans, you notice they're a little bit tight around the butt area. Maybe you want to improve your supposedly unhealthy lifestyle. Whatever it is, I'm not judging: going on a diet in order to lose weight has its merits, that's for sure.

That is, until your diet leaves you feeling sick, dizzy, or otherwise much worse off than before you started. Turns out, there's a few ways to know ahead of time if your diet's going to make you sick.

1. Your diet doesn't have enough calories

At its most fundamental, the key to weight loss is to ensure that you are expending more energy than you're taking into your body. The bigger the deficit, the more weight you lose. Simple, right? But if you find yourself with too big of a difference between calories in and calories out, the only thing you'll be losing is your consciousness as you try to climb a flight of stairs. Try to stick to the recommended daily limits - that's between 1,600 and 2,400 calories for women, and 2,000 to 3,000 for men.

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2. Your diet is super boring

At first glance, this might not seem like much of an issue: so what if your diet's boring? If it has the right number of calories, then it doesn't matter, right? Wrong: if you're eating the same things day in, day out, you're probably not getting the nutrients you need for a healthy, balanced diet, and this will make you pretty sick in the long run. The best way to diet is to introduce a whole host of healthy foods into your mouth.

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3. It's literally just cheese

Come on, guys. I didn't really need to explain this to you, did I? In the 2006 film the Devil Wears Prada, Emily (Emily Blunt's character) goes on an extreme diet in order to get ready for Fashion Week: she virtually starves herself, before eating a cheese cube when she felt herself about to pass out. Do not do this. You will die. Pretty much any diet which requires you to literally eat one food when you start to lose consciousness is obviously insane.

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4. The diet doesn't come from a trusted source

In your quest to find the ultimate weight-loss plan, you might spend hours in the internet, scouring forums and blogs alike. You find one that seems perfect for you, but if it comes from deep inside Reddit or from a random caption from an Instagram post, then maybe it's not the one for you. If there's no medical research behind it or it hasn't been signed off by a medical professional, then there's a pretty good chance it'll make you very, very sick.

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5. Your diet doesn't have any fibre

When it comes to healthy eating, fibre is usually the nutrient holding it together. The average American eats about 15 grams of fibre every day (10 fewer than the recommended daily amount), but without enough of it, you're going to have a bad time. Fibre is vital for good digestive function - it helps to keep you full for longer, and without enough of it, you're going to end up quite constipated. So if your diet doesn't have enough whole grains, beans, fruits or vegetables, the likelihood is that it's not going to help you lose weight, and you won't have a lot of fun in the process.

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6. Your diet calls for dietary supplements

Similar to getting your dieting advice from a quack who's forced to post his work on Tumblr, any diet that requires you to take a bunch of supplements to make it work is not a diet worth pursuing - unless you really want to end up in the hospital. The supplement market is incredibly under-regulated, so not only could you be putting things into your body that have had little to no research carried out on them, but they could also be laced with fillers, flavourings or binders that could have a negative effect on your health.

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7. Your diet promises to cure your health conditions

Yes, you're right: eating the right foods is the best way to ensure your health conditions aren't being exacerbated, but there's no set diet that's guaranteed to cure diabetes, coeliac disease or anything like that. If you find a diet that promises to be the panacea to all of your problems, there's a 100-percent chance your diet is too good to be true. Don't risk it.

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8. It's way different to your current diet

Now, if your diet consists exclusively of pizzas, burgers and ice cream, then going completely the other way isn't actually that bad of an idea. But let's say you're an avid meat eater; no matter how hard you try, attempting to try a vegan diet right away is only going to make you sick.  “If you want to change things up a bit, the safest bet would be to do so slowly so your system doesn’t get a total shock,” says David Zinczenko, author of the Zero Belly Diet, and if you do so too fast, you may end up constipated, bloated, or worse.

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9. Your diet requires you to do excessive excercise

In order to burn the calories in your body, regular exercise is just as important as dieting when it comes to losing weight. But if your diet lists two hours in the gym daily as a requirement rather than a suggestion, there's a good chance that your new eating plan will leave your immune system compromised, according to an article in the journal Sports Medicine. A compromised immune system will leave you vulnerable to nasty upper respiratory tract infections, and goodness knows what else.

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10. You're not enjoying eating anymore

Friends: getting to lunch or dinnertime is meant to be a joyous occasion. But when you're on a new diet and your first thought at lunch is a deep feeling of dread, then maybe your diet is too restrictive to have any fun with. Restrictive dieting may help your physical health, but it might do a number on your mental health, causing you to experience anxiety, depression, and much, much, more.

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Well, there you have it folks. Although it might mean cutting out some of your favourite foods, dieting doesn't need to be a restrictive, miserable process, no matter how much weight you want to lose. If you're not enjoying yourself at every meal, then there's a good chance you're not doing things right. Don't send yourself to the hospital over a few extra pounds.