We have all been there before. We’ve been sitting in a waiting room or on an airplane, playing sports or taking a jog, talking to someone at the grocery store or church, and all of the sudden, it hits you! The smell of body odor wafts into your nose. You start to panic, thinking, “Is that me or is that them?! Where is the closest bathroom so I can smell under my arms?” The panic sets in. “Did I bring my deodorant with me? What do I DO?!?!?!” Heart pounding, and feeling mortified, you slink away to the closest private location…
Let’s get real… no one wants to stink of body odor. We have shelves and shelves of antiperspirants and deodorants in every grocery and drug store to prevent this from happening. Sadly, though, many of those antiperspirants aren’t safe for your body or your health, as they are full of chemicals and parabens and contain aluminum as their main ingredient.
What Makes Antiperspirant Dangerous?
Aluminum is the active ingredient in most antiperspirants, and it clogs your pores in order to prevent you from sweating. Seems like a dream come true, right? Sadly, it’s not. When you apply aluminum-based products to your body, the aluminum makes its way into your body and blood stream. Several studies over the years have made connections between aluminum and breast cancer.
According to Dr. Mercola, there was a study done in 2006 that found that aluminum salts create a hormone reaction in the body, mimicking estrogen. Increased levels of estrogen are linked to breast cancer. A 2007 study by the Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry showed the breast tissue from 17 mastectomies which was tested and evaluated. The researchers found concentrations of aluminum in the outer breast tissue, and even higher amounts in the underarm tissue that was removed. The researchers linked antiperspirant use to the level of aluminum found in the tissue. Chances are, if you use a deodorant that says “antiperspirant” anywhere on it, you are using a product that contains lots of aluminum.
Why Aluminum Is Bad For Your Body
In October of this past year, Natural News revealed that a study in Switzerland proves and confirms the dangers of aluminum. The study was done at the University of Geneva, where both human mammary cells and mice were tested. Researchers found that “long-term exposure to the chemical not only spurred on cancer tumors but also the metastization, meaning their proliferation throughout the body.” The researchers were so confident in their study that they stated aluminum to be just as dangerous to the human body as asbestos, which has been linked to several forms of cancer.
Aluminum has not only been linked to breast cancer, but also to Alzheimer ’s disease. In 2001, an article was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s disease. This article stated, after much research, that the link between aluminum and Alzheimer’s “should not be dismissed.” The research showed that aluminum CAN and DOES cross the blood brain barrier, and has many methods of doing so. It also showed that even small exposures to aluminum produce neurotoxicity, and if you take a lifetime of just food and product exposure, it is possible the body will store aluminum in brain tissue.
Other Dangers of Deodorant
Another interesting, and dangerous, factor about antiperspirants is the chemicals in the formula. In June 2015, Time magazine released an online article that discussed the potential dangers in deodorant. One of their interviewee’s, Dr. Philip Harvey of the Journal of Applied Toxicology, did a study of how cosmetics affect and interact with the body. He stated that “cosmetic chemicals may significantly add to estrogenic burdens.’” When this happens, the hormones and cells in the body are compromised. Another interviewee, Dr. Philippa Darbre, was quoted to believe that “combining different parabens with human cells creates activity that may contribute to the development of cancer.”
As you can see from these different studies and various sources, the links between aluminum and dis-ease are starting to become more apparent. So how do you find a deodorant product that is safe for your body AND works effectively? At the Well of Life, we are always researching products that are what we call “Well of Life Approved,” meaning that they are the safest options for our clients to purchase. We have lots of deodorants that we can recommend for you that are safe, natural, and work well to protect even the “heavy-sweaters.” Looing for a safe option? Check out our blog post on safe deodorant options for some great (and well-tested) brands for your use and protection!
Sources
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/02/16/aluminum-lurks-in-crystal-deodorants.aspx
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17629949
http://www.naturalnews.com/055526_aluminum_cancer_antiperspirants.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21157018
http://time.com/3922814/deodorant-cancer/