INDUSTRY INSIGHT: 
Anti-Perpirant and Deodorant 101
What’s the difference between anti-perspirants and deodorants?
Deodorants do not inhibit perspiration but merely add scent and sometimes bacteria inhibiting substances. Anti-perspirants usually contain some form of aluminum.
How does aluminum inhibit sweating?
Aluminum ions are taken into cells. When the aluminum ions are drawn into the cells, water passes in with them. As more water flows in, the cells begin to swell, squeezing the ducts closed so that sweat can’t get out.
Is Aluminum harmful?
Some health practitioners believe that they are associated with breast cancer by interfering with auxiliary lymph node function. Aluminum is also believed by some to be associated with Alzheimer’s disease.
Is there an anti-persipirant alternative if I simply want to reduce the amount I sweat, especially during the workday? Yes. Natural health stores carry a variety of aluminum-free products. There are also salt crystals available that can be used for underarm areas.
Is there a D.I.Y. version?
Yes. Mix a little baking soda with vinegar. It will not retard sweating, although it will retard bacteria growth and possibly reduce any offensive odors.
Source: Dr. Thom Lobe, MD, and Barry Lomax, ND.
Sweat It Out
When the Temperature Rises,
Let Your Body’s Own Cooling System Kick In
By Neal Webster Turnage
The Nords and Finns have their saunas, the Russians their banias, The Turks are as renowned for their hammans as the Greeks and Romans are for their thermeas. Americans, Southern Californians in particular, are partial to the hot mineral springs in a myriad of locales, from Calistoga, to Temecula, to Palm Desert. What does it all mean? We’re a culture obsessed with heat’s effect on the body and consequently drenched in sweat. At least we used to be.
In the modern Western epoch, sweating, outside of induced forms of it, is pretty much taboo. It’s sticky. It smells. It creates ring-around-the-collar on that new Lacoste; yellow underarm stains, too. It must be avoided at all costs.
Or should it?
At its core level, sweat is a clear, odorless, salty liquid produced by skin glands. It is the body’s natural cooling mechanism to keep our internal temperature regulated. As it is a function of the autoimmune system, sweat is most often on autopilot. Like anything else in life, too much is never a good thing. “But,” says Dr. Thom Lobe of Beneveda Medical Group in Beverly Hills, “normal, every day sweating, especially in the summer, is a good thing.”
Go With the Flow
“When temperatures soar and you are too broke to pay the air conditioning bill, sweat! It’s nature’s air conditioning system and it doesn’t cost us anything,” says Lobe. “The majority of sweat glands,” he adds, “are located in the underarms, yet in the right conditions, we can sweat anywhere on our body. Barring serious illness or adrenal and thyroid imbalances, (all of which can lead to excessive sweating), it is wise not to interfere with the body’s natural mechanism.”
Naturopahth Barry Lomax explains, “The body does use perspiration as one of its detoxification mechanisms. Small amounts of heavy metals and other substances have been identified in sweat. High levels of sodium, chloride, and other solutes are also present,” he adds.
But fear not. According to Dr. Gerbus Muller, a toxicologist at South Africa’s renowned Stellenbosch University, the discharge of toxins and trace elements through sweat “is of no medical consequence.”
However, be aware that high levels of sweating can cause dehydration along with electrolyte deficiencies, so Lomax is quick to advocate replenishment. “The best electrolyte replacement drink is coconut water, which you can use from a fresh coconut or purchase in the store now, too. Sports drinks are fine except that drinks like Gatorade have too much sugar which is really only appropriate after long hard workouts over an hour.”
The best electrolyte replacement drink?
Coconut water.
The Fear Factor
The more you sweat, the more you smell. While there may be a kernel of truth here, both Lobe and Lomax believe it is largely urban myth. Says Lobe, “What we eat can be excreted in our sweat, so some odorous foods and spices will come out in our sweat. People discover if they eat garlic, for example, their sweat smells garlicky. The same is true for many of the Eastern spices, curry and the like.”
The best ways to avoid smelling like last night’s Italian indulgence at Tra di Noi? “Stay cool, watch what you eat, and bathe often,” advises Lobe.
In the meantime, as the temperature rises, don’t be afraid to simply sweat it out.
