Deodorant: Is natural deodorant better than normal antiperspirant deodorant?
Okay, so we’re hearing that natural deodorant is all the hype. We’ve heard that normal antiperspirant deodorant is potentially harmful, and that we should do our best to make the transition to a more natural deodorant for health reasons. It sounds fair… but we have questions! WHY is normal anti-perspirant deodorant potentially harmful? And, does natural deodorant even work? Well, we did our own research, so we’ll give you the lowdown!
Normal Antiperspirant Deodorant & Perceived Health Threats
The wide held concern with this deodorant is that it contains aluminum. The function of aluminum (compounds) in antiperspirant deodorant is to literally prevent sweat from forming on the skin by providing an incredibly thick barrier that inhibits the perspiration to penetrate it by plugging your sweat ducts. A noteworthy finding: it has also been said by researchers to be linked to alzheimer's disease as well as cancer. It has also been said to be linked to various types of cancers.
The purpose of sweating is to purge your body of toxins. In our sweat and any bodily excretion similar, their purpose is to do the same. Because aluminum acts as an agent that plugs the sweat ducts, researchers say that this also causes these same toxins that our bodies are trying to rid themselves of, become trapped inside our tissue as a result, and inevitably lead to the damaging of our cells. Furthermore, another concern of aluminum in our deodorant has been said to be that it makes us smell worse as it disrupts the natural habitat of bacteria in our armpits that is supposed to live there. As the body’s response to this disruption, it could be that even worse bacteria takes over the environment, and potentially even worse smelling…. Yikes. It’s worth noting that the links are not necessarily accepted by all scientists, or medical experts… some even call these “links to cancer by aluminum” a myth.
Natural Ingredients and their benefits
Natural deodorants are said to cultivate the armpit’s natural environment and bacteria, be better for the environment, and save you money on the premise that you should be using less of it, as it is supposedly more effective. Some of the articles we read said that natural deodorant actually works so that you only need to use one or two swipes… In our own natural deodorant trials, we didn’t find this so- honestly, the down side of natural deodorant is that you need more than one or two “swipes” of the tube …. And, (honestly speaking from experience) it does leave a slight odour behind if (God forbid) someone ever decides to smell up close. To be fair, natural deodorant is supposed to take up to one month to restore the armpit’s natural biome and eliminate the full stench caused by the sweat duct blocking aluminum…. And during the trials we had, we didn’t have the patience to wait that long, unfortunately. However, it is meant to be a long term solution that is more effective overtime, but does take a while to inhabit its full efficacy! Ingredients to look for in your natural deodorant are as follows: Magnesium, zinc oxide, kaolin and bentonite clay, Hemp seed, activated charcoal.
In conclusion; just like most things the ultimate determining factor is up to you. There is really no conclusive evidence to show that these links are definitive, and many scientists- including medical experts alike suggest that more research simply needs to be done in order to make a truly educated decision. For now, the KATAKAMI brand chooses to take a brand like “Alberta Fresh” and our hand cream and make sure that all of the ingredients therein are natural, and organic. Because you have one face, one set of skin covering your body, and one body, that’s left up to you to take care of… and based on that, we say that’s enough to lead us to believe that it’s better to be safe than sorry!