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I'm using Tom's of Maine natural deodorant. I'm concerned with limiting my exposure to aluminum so I opted for a deodorant that doesn't have it.

My problem is that this shit really doesn't work all that well. To be honest I loved how Speedstick kept me fresh all day or some of the Mitchum products smelled.

I'll always have a problem with wetness as I sweat all over most of the time. I really want to control odor with a deodorant that is aluminum free. Does anyone have any suggestions? Tom's of Maine doesn't seem to be an option for me.

botox

I used to work in a health food store as a buyer and companies would throw samples at me. Of the dozen deodorant samples I have tried none of them worked. None. Sure, some might add a fresh mint scent to the overwhelming B.O. stink, but never hide it.

Some co-workers got the crystal to work. I was not one of them.

I don't that crystal will work for me.

Hym...I may just have to make the switch to a regular deodorant.

So, Munching, you don't mind using a regular deodorant? I know you like to eat organic and what not. I've heard of how aluminum exposure is related to Alzheimer's disease later in life.

I don't need anymore diseases in my life.

this is interesting: http://www.naturalnews.com/004417.html

[quote]Lesson number one in Body Odor 101 is that what comes out of your body reflects what you put in. Body odor is something that's strongly affected by what's being emitted by your sweat glands. And remember, armpits are designed to sweat. I know that may sound insanely simple, because everybody knows that armpits sweat, but I'm saying that armpits are supposed to perspire. Yet people go to great lengths to prevent their armpits from sweating using deodorant products containing toxic chemicals and derivatives of heavy metals like aluminum.

But there's more to it than just cooling your body temperature through perspiration -- another function of the sweat glands in your armpits is to excrete toxins from your body. That's why sweating is an important part of maintaining optimum physical health. You have to give your body a chance to get rid of various toxins through a variety of metabolic processes. Those include urination, passing fecal matter, exhaling carbon dioxide and other toxins through the lungs, and, of course, eliminating toxins through the skin. The skin, remember, is your body's largest organ.

Your armpits, then, actually have an important health function in getting rid of toxins. That's why you need to keep them open and unclogged by deodorant products. Sweating is good for you.

But what about the odor? Where does that really come from? Conventional doctors like to say it's due to bacteria living in your armpits. But that's ridiculous: our entire bodies are covered with bacteria, not just our armpits. And if the bacteria alone were the cause of the odor, you could eliminate body odor by sterilizing your armpits with rubbing alcohol or iodine tincture. (Try it, if you like: it still won't eliminate the odor.) The real cause of armpit odor is the intentional excretion of horrible toxins that your body is trying to get rid of. And by using deodorant products, you block the exit door and force those toxins to stay in your system!

The way to eliminate body odor, then, is not to mask it with unhealthful deodorant products, but rather to clean up your body from the inside out. In other words, if your armpits have a horrible raunchy smell, that's an indication your diet needs some adjusting. I'm embarrassed to say that I know this from personal experience. My own body odor used to be rather disgusting when I followed the standard American diet like most people do. I had to use massive doses of brand name deodorant products just to try to cover up the odor. Only later did I learn that those products are made with cancer-causing chemical fragrances that are absorbed directly into your bloodstream, through your armpits, where they enter your liver and promote liver disease, cancer, and a variety of other disorders.

Many deodorants and antiperspirants are made with aluminum in order to halt the perspiration of your sweat glands, and this aluminum is suspected of accumulating in the nervous system and ultimately contributing to nervous system disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. That's why I no longer use any brand name deodorants or antiperspirants. After giving up red meat, junk foods, fast foods and other dietary atrocities, I no longer needed deodorants anyway.

Foods that make you stink
Let's take a closer look at the causes of body odor. What foods really cause body odor in the first place?

Red meat is the number one cause of body odor. Red meat causes stagnation in the body; it putrefies in the digestive tract and releases all sorts of toxins into the bloodstream through the large intestine. I've noticed that people who consume a large quantity of red meat on a regular basis tend to have much stronger body odor than those who avoid it. Some people tell me just the opposite -- they say it's vegetarians who stink because they run around wearing no deodorant whatsoever. But my experience is that if a vegetarian stinks, they aren't following a healthy diet even though they are avoiding meat. (You can be vegetarian and extremely unhealthy if you consume a lot of processed foods.) Overall, though, if you find a healthful vegetarian and put them side by side with a heavy meat eater in a sniff test, I'm confident your nose will lead you to the conclusion that the meat eater is the most offensive of the two. It's weird science, yes, but we are talking about a strange subject to begin with.

As far as other foods that cause body odor, manufactured foods -- those lacking fiber and made with refined white flour, added sugars, hydrogenated oils and other processed ingredients -- are the big culprits. When you eliminate these from your diet and shift to a 100% healthful diet made of whole grains, massive quantities of leafy vegetables, fresh fruits, soy products, supergreens, lots of sprouts, raw nuts and seeds, healthy oils and other similar healthful ingredients, your body odor will all but disappear in a matter of weeks.

That's because a plant-based diet is an internal deodorizer. It's true: the chlorophyll and other phytonutrients will cleanse you from the inside out. Some of the best foods for that include parsley, cilantro, celery and all mint species. The aromatic herbs are also excellent: sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and so on.

As a sidebar to the body odor discussion, all the things that come out of your body are strong indicators of your current level of health, as well as what adjustments you need to make in order to be healthier. It's interesting to note that for hundreds of years, physicians actually tasted the urine of their patients and were able to make medical diagnoses by taste analysis alone. As bizarre as this sounds, it actually makes good sense. The human tongue is perhaps the finest natural chemical composition sensor known to modern medicine. (Dogs' noses are also good at this. Dogs have actually been trained to sniff out bladder cancer by smelling the urine of humans. Just search Google for articles on "bladder cancer dogs sniff" and you'll find lots of references to this fact.)

After tasting the urine, skilled physicians were able to offer astoundingly precise medical diagnoses. The problem, of course, is that doctors also tended to become ill from tasting their patients' urine, and so this practice fell into disfavor long ago.

By the way, just to be clear here, I'm not at all suggesting that you should be tasting your own urine. But it's very easy to smell your own armpits and get a sense of what's going on. Try going 24 hours with no deodorant. If you can't stand the smell from the outside, just imagine what your body smells like on the inside! Maybe it's time for some plants in your diet, ya think?[/quote]

I would like to see the research that shows what toxins are excreted via sweat. I have looked and havent found anything significant. The sweat glands are not another set of kidneys.

Now sweat does produce a powerful antibiotic...dermicidin....which helps keep the sweat glands and pores free of infection.

I find that just washing my armpits well and rinising well when I shower keeps odor away. If I am sweating, I splash some rubbing alcohol under my arms to kill the bacteria that cause the odor and to cool myself, too.

Most people don't need deodorant. Just trim/shave your arm pit hair with a electric clippers or with a beard trimmer. And thoroughly wash your arm pits every time you shower. Always wear a clean t-shirt. Stay hydrated.

In most cases, body odor comes from bacteria that's stewing in your pits. If you have a forest of hair in your arm pits, you're only helping the bacteria grow even more, especially if you don't keep it clean.

The article Timberoo posted also mentions food intake. This is another factor that contributes to body odor. But it doesn't apply to any of us on this site, since we all eat clean and healthy.. right???

I only spray on a little Right Guard if the weather is hot, and I'm dressed in a suit for a formal occasion. It helps control the sweating. But any other day, I don't use deodorant.

I've started using Adidas' deodorant, and I don't believe they have any aluminum in them. Double check the label in case they've snuck some in under a more covert name.

I started to search for an aluminum free deodorant after hearing about all those studies as well. Alzheimer's runs in my family and I certainly don't need to raise my risk of it.

I find the idea that you won't have B.O. if you bathe regularly and trim back your armpit hair to be very funny.

I shower, on average, twice a day. I've shaved my armpit hair for several years. (Admittedly, I do eat some red meat, but eat far more white meat than red). And if I go more than 24 hours without deodorant, even immediately after showering I'll smell bad. Soap by itself just isn't enough.

Most of the people I've known in person who've said they don't need deodorant were mistaken--I assume they just didn't have sensitive noses, or else were too acclimated to their own smell to notice it. there is a cultural aspect to it as well; most of the people I've known who didn't use deodorant were not originally from the US or Canada, but certain other parts of the world with different cultural norms regarding bathing and scent.

As for me, I do use a deodorant with aluminum. Arm & Hammer unscented, to be specific. Of the roughly 10 brands of deodorant I've tried in the past decade, it's the only one I'm not allergic to. I stopped trying other ones years back, when I found one made by a major company (and thus available in most markets) which didn't cause me to break out in a rash. The fact that it works better than a number I tried is just icing on the cake.

Naturally Fresh Deodorant Crystal seems to do the trick.
It DOESN'T stop you from sweating.
But no odor...not sure I have this down exactly, but something about salts in the roll-on have a natural antibiotic effect.
Couldn't find it at my Target, but it was at www.target.com....I'm tossing out the aluminum-containing stuff.

Just to make life easier for you, I think we've moved on from thinking Aluminium is related to Alzheimer's. I quickly found this: http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=99 Keep looking if you're concerned, and then just go back to Speedstick.

the stuff your talking about is aluminium chloride, it actually doesn't enter the body through the skin, it blocks the duct by causing the cells around it to swell. Its never actually absorbed by the body.

there are a couple of other aluminium thingies that are used but chloride is the most common I believe and I also believe they all work in the same manner by causing swelling of the area around the sweat duct.

Your effectively putting a stopper in the sweat gland.

no study done on the effects of aluminium chloride used outside of the body has shown that the body doesn't absorb the stuff beyond a couple of layers of skin. So its considered pretty safe, mind you, you never can be 100% sure

I also believe aluminium you ingest has been linked to the Alzheimer.

I've seen the "Tom's" stuff you refer to at my grocery store... I've never purchased any, but I know what you mean.

I would watch the stores Adrien... the companies that produce deodorant
are in quite a competition... there is new stuff all the time... you never know what you might find... and also watch for coupons.

A while back I rid myself of all traditional deoderants for the same reasons. Traditional deoderants and antipersperants helped with any odor, but I sweat profusely when wearing them (and it was getting to be ridiculously embarrassing).

I then rubbed my pits with rubbing alcohol quite frequently (as Timberoo's article suggests) for a few months and switched to crystal natural deoderants. I do not have any odor and no longer sweat profusely. I also did a few cleanses during that time (I know how the RJ'ers feel about those) which may have contributed to these changes.

that crystal was a piece of shit.

and for those of you who think just a good wash will keep you smelling fresh...come visit me in arizona.

Here is another article that is opposed to the idea that deodorants cause Altzheimer's..this article makes a lot of sense

The reasons Alzheimer's patients have higher levels of aluminum is because the cells affected are less able to rid themselves of toxins (like aluminum) that build up. It is not because aluminum compounds, slowly accumulating over time, damage the cells.

If the aluminum compounds somehow soaked in through the skin and damaged the brain, you would see an abnormally high amount of Alzheimer's disease affecting populations of people who worked with aluminum as part of their daily life (like chefs, airplane mechanics, aluminum siding salesmen, etc.) - which isn't the case.

Make your life easier and go back to the Speedstick

I had the same problem with Tom's. I switched to Crystal after a recommendation from the Wellness clerk at my local New Seasons grocery store. She did note, however that it should be applied right out of the shower as it's not as effective after sweating has started. Get the spray bottle, because it's more sanitary, and you can share.

It seems to do a better job than Tom's at stopping odor, but you will have to get used o the sweaty feeling. There were a few other options with natural herbal compounds as well.

try drinking some sage tea... go buy some fresh sage leaves from the grocery store steep that in boiling water..and drink..it supposedly reduces the perspiration.... though it does make u sweat in the beginning...

I'm not completely sold on the idea of diet being the primary cause of odor. I used to work with and lived next door to some seriously hardcore vegan raw food only folks that still stank to high heaven on a warm day.

Let me put my two cents worth... ;)

BO tends to come from the breakdown of sweat by bacteria on the body, and is also linked to what you eat. MSUBioNerd mentioned meat, but I feel that the spices you add to food can have a pronounced effect on BO.

I do not believe in clogging my pores with something (the method used by aluminum-based deodorants) to reduce my sweat, since sweat is the body's way to regulate internal temperature. If you are sweating, you probably need to, because you are generating too much heat.

I have shaved my armpits for the past few years, and that has reduced the smells, partly since there is less surface area for bacteria and its food to cling to. I guess the same applies to any body hair (so chest hair counts too).

That said, I do shower frequently (especially if I sweat), and do use eau de toilette.

"Old Spice High Endurance Deodorant" does not list any aluminum compounds in its ingredients so I've been using that and it works pretty well. It also doesn't cause any build-up on your clothes (at least not in the past year).

I used a Crystal for my day to day deodorant and I have yet to have any odor problems (not that I'm a sticky person). When I workout or do something where I know I'll be sweating, I use Terra Naturals - Sport which works extremely well.

We're talking about 2 different things here: an underarm deodorant, versus an antiperspirant. They are not the same, but are often combined in one product.

A deodorant masks the smell, and may have chemicals that control the bacteria that create the unpleasant odor.

An antiperspirant inhibits sweating. This can prevent underarm sweat stains on clothing. Keeping the underarm area dry can also limit the growth of bacteria that are mostly responsible for unpleasant odors. The most common antiperspirant active ingredient is aluminum chlorohydrate, and several related compounds.

If aluminum is a concern, use an underarm deodorant that is not an antiperspirant. It will be labeled as such, and the ingredients will tell you it contains no aluminum compounds. You will still sweat, but with daily showering and use of the deodorant, you should not have a significant odor problem.

makeumyne saidJust to make life easier for you, I think we've moved on from thinking Aluminium is related to Alzheimer's. I quickly found this: http://alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=99 Keep looking if you're concerned, and then just go back to Speedstick.

Thanks for this article. Perhaps it doesn't matter. I thought it did.

Thanks, guys for your input. I don't mind sweating. I just want to smell fresh like a daisy or a summer breeze.

While I was in college we asked our chemistry teacher about the aluminum in antiperspirants and she said the same thing as mentioned above. It's a different type of aluminum and can't be absorbed by the body. She said the kind of aluminum to watch out for would be something like cooking tomatoes in an aluminum pot and the aluminum leaching into the sauce--why they recommend cast iron or stainless steel. I have had issues with wet pits for years--I pit out all the time even when I'm not exercising or working hard. I finally asked a doctor about it and she prescribed drysol. It was only 11 bucks and it stopped the excessive sweating in two days. I only have to apply it once a week and I love it. It also is not absorbed into the bloodstream.
On a note for those using the crystals--supposedly, if you wet them with tap water they will not work. You have to use distilled water. This is no where on the instructions but something about the minerals in tap affect the mineral salts. I had a health food store person tell me this since I commented that I tried a crystal and it didn't work for me. I didn't confirm this since I wasn't about to buy a new crystal but it's something you might want to try.

I've been using Kiss My Face's Deodorant for a while, and I really like it.

http://kissmyface.com/deodorantpages/deodorantpage.html#

It works on odor well, but not on wetness since it is aluminum-free. But I don't sweat a lot unless I'm at the gym anyway.

mFit saidWhile I was in college we asked our chemistry teacher about the aluminum in antiperspirants and she said the same thing as mentioned above. It's a different type of aluminum and can't be absorbed by the body. She said the kind of aluminum to watch out for would be something like cooking tomatoes in an aluminum pot and the aluminum leaching into the sauce--why they recommend cast iron or stainless steel. I have had issues with wet pits for years--I pit out all the time even when I'm not exercising or working hard. I finally asked a doctor about it and she prescribed drysol. It was only 11 bucks and it stopped the excessive sweating in two days. I only have to apply it once a week and I love it. It also is not absorbed into the bloodstream.
On a note for those using the crystals--supposedly, if you wet them with tap water they will not work. You have to use distilled water. This is no where on the instructions but something about the minerals in tap affect the mineral salts. I had a health food store person tell me this since I commented that I tried a crystal and it didn't work for me. I didn't confirm this since I wasn't about to buy a new crystal but it's something you might want to try.

Great post, Mike. Thanks for your contribution. I learned about aluminum pots as well. And cooking tomatoes in iron pots can leach out the iron and fortify your diet with iron in this way. That's what I read awhile ago anyway.

I will try the Drysol. Sounds good to me!

you shouldn't cook tomatoes in castiron because it damages the seasoning, however, for short periods of time its ok.

In a properly seasoned cast iron pot you should be ok.
Contact time is only short.

but its preferable that you don't cook any high acid foods in copper, cast iron or aluminium

Afraid I have to stick to the Tom's. It works well for me. Commercial deodorants of any type give me a horrid rash and even some of the natural ones. Tried the crystal but kept drying out my skin too much. Yeah, I'm a high maintenance sensitive boy.

I was having a problem with increased sweating and my naturopath suggested to me that it was the deodrant I was using but particularly the aluminium content in the deodrant.

Ironically, I was using the deodrant 3 or 4 times during the course of the day because of sweating but in fact it was causing the sweating!!

I now use a Tea-Tree deodrant, that is aluminium free and the sweating problem has ceased. The tea tree smell is very subtle and the price is the same as the deodrant you buy at the supermarket.

Red_Vespa saidWe're talking about 2 different things here: an underarm deodorant, versus an antiperspirant. They are not the same, but are often combined in one product.

This is correct. I use plain old "regular" Speedstick deodorant--not antiperspirant--and it has no aluminum in it. I just checked. I am not that sweaty, though, so it might not be effective for heavy sweaters.

Okay, HOLD UP!

I just went to the store today to buy a regular brand of deodorant and I thought since some of you commented that aluminum chloride (being the ingredient in antiperspirants) wasn't linked to any diseases I thought, why not?

So I was sampling the smells to make sure I purchased one I liked. The ones that do have aluminum have a type called Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex Gly.

I also googled to find out more and this is what wikipedia.com said about the two different versions.
"Though aluminium has been identified as a neurotoxin[2], several studies[citation needed] suggest that aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex gly is not absorbed through the skin as readily as other aluminium compounds such as aluminium chloride. This finding would suggest a significantly lower chance of toxic effects associated with aluminium, though still unproven."

So according to wikipedia.com aluminum chloride is the bad stuff.

What alarmed me overall was that all the antiperspirants that had Aluminum Zirconium Tetrachlorohydrex Gly in them warned that if you have any type of kidney disease that you should first consult with your doctor. Are you serious?!
I'm not going use a product that's associated with duress on my kidneys.

UH UH!!!

So decided to stick with something natural and am trying out the Arm and Hammer Essentials Natural Deodorant. It's aluminum and paraben free and smells like a very clean crisp soap.

unfortunately, many of these claims are based on either sketchy science or hypothesis there hasn't been anything proven about it and used externally from what I know there hasn't been any significant proof to show that aluminium products are absorbed into the body, into the skin is different though, they are absorbed so far as passing through a few layers of skin to stop sweating.

The skin really isn't designed for two way transmission of fluids, it's all suppose to go in one direction, ie, inside to out and aluminium chloride (and other aluminium products) are all believed to sit on the surface or just under it but are quickly flushed back out by the body through sweating and normal skin regeneration. hence the reason you gotta keep using this stuff..

Doctors find something, speculate and the media picks up the scariest thing, people panic, companies shit them self that they could be liable and slap a little warning on the bottle of what ever (apparently a bag of nuts could contain nuts, did you hear ) which freaks more people out.

but at the end of the day, doctors and scientists just don't know for sure if it causes problems, they have only found that aluminium chloride (and its other brothers) don't have a measurable absorption through the skin into the blood and other tissue.

However, I don't imagine any of that stuff would be good if you ingest it, inject it or start pouring it over open wounds.. then you might have problems.

anywho I've just totally killed ma lil brain trying to rack everything outta it I could remember..

I could very well be outta date though I haven't looked at this stuff in ages.

And just because teatree oil is natural, I wouldn't recommend drinking it

Actually the skin can act as a way to absorb chemicals. Ever hear of Retin-A for skin? It's mainly used to control acne but it has been reported to penetrate the epidermis to help improve wrinkles at the dermal layer.

Then there's Andro-gel testosterone hormone replacement therapy that's supposed to restore testosterone levels by applying the gel to your skin. So if the skin can absorb these products and substantial physiological effects can take place I can't imagine why applying metals to an area that's warm and sweaty can't be absorbed by the body either.

Just think of all the animal testing that's done to make sure cosmetics are safe for human use. If the skin truly didn't absorb any type of cosmetic then there would be no need for testing on anything that we apply to the skin.

The best deoderant I have found that works for me is Degree gel. Sadly, Degree stopped making it a few years ago. I have also found that gels work better for me that the standard stick or roll on, especially when my underarms are shaved. I now switch back and forth between Gillette Gel (ingredients list does not show alluminum chloride) and Degree for Men stick when I have underarm hair.

these things have certain chemicals in them that allow that transmission to take place though, they are specialised and not available in over the counter products, at least not here in australia they aren't I know the US has vastly different laws regarding that.

there are chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin (and be used as carrying agents), but it isn't an effective transmission path, the steroidal based creams and gels that are used for hormonal replacement are incredibly ineffective but are used because its simple and easy for the patient to self administer, have a low risk of over dosing and again have chemicals in them to help the transmission into the blood stream.


Yeah I wont deny that it can happen, but they aren't every day and they take special chemicals that just aren't available (or shouldn't be) in over the counter body products.

OOH Cosmetics are just scary, do you know the shit they put in that stuff and the damage it does to your skin.. they have gotten heaps better since hte days of animal testing though.. I love Vegans who complain about animal products being in so many products and then put lipstick on without a second thought.. rendered fat anyone?..

deodorant/antiperspirant though are in a different class.. but then again, science just isn't 100% sure yet, so if it makes you more comfortable not using them then that's kewl, I have an aluminum chloride product I use over night to control my sweating if I need it, otherwise I use a crystal and a deodorant

lilTanker said
I love Vegans who complain about animal products being in so many products and then put lipstick on without a second thought.. rendered fat anyone?..

So...are you knock'n me for using lipstick....Cuz if you are I'm gonna.....I'm gonna.....


CUT YOU!

muchmorethanmuscle said

lilTanker said
I love Vegans who complain about animal products being in so many products and then put lipstick on without a second thought.. rendered fat anyone?..

So...are you knock'n me for using lipstick....Cuz if you are I'm gonna.....I'm gonna.....


CUT YOU!

Damn and here I was hoping you'd block me with cherry lip gloss on *sniffs*

lol...when I left this site a few months ago it was all politics all the time. Now, it is deoderant. Maybe that is a good thing.

I use whatever is two for one at Von's. It all seems to work about the same. At least no friends have complained yet. I workout and really sweat about twice a day. I find that some stain my shirts which is more of a concern. Aluminum? It has not killed me yet so I will probably not worry about it. Otherwise, deoderant is deoderant. Any brand is cool with me.

just encase anyone is wondering what is staining there tshirts, its the aluminium chloride in the antiperspirant and drying agents interacting with peoples sweat and oils which cakes to the tshirt/shirt. There isn't anyway to stop it unless you stop using an antiperspirant.

People who experience that marking fast (such as my self) its because you use more of the stuff then other people in an attempt to try and control the sweating.

News flash...

They're not using aluminum chloride it's that Aluminum Zirconium .
Tetrachlorohydrex Gly

Stop purporting false info LilTanker or I'll tie you up and put lipstick on you!