Your skin is the largest organ and it absorbs everything – especially what you put under your armpits.
Aluminium-based compounds are in most antiperspirants and these chemicals have been linked to breast cancer and alzheimer’s disease. Sweating is a natural way for the body to cool down and detoxify itself, and when you try to prevent this by using deodorant products, you’re essentially preventing the sweat glands from getting rid of toxins.
Natural Alternatives:
The saying ‘you are what you eat’ could not be more true, because you smell like what you eat too. The stinky source of body odor is largely dependent on your diet.
If you follow these 5 simple steps, you can easily eliminate the smell that your antiperspirant used to!
Drink more water: The most obvious way is to flush out body odor smells with clean, pure, cool, water. Therefore we recommend to drink lots of it! Health experts recommend squeezing half of a fresh lemon to your glass of water to help detoxify your digestive system. Drinking enough water also ensures your undigested food or toxins won’t be trapped within your digestive track which can create body odor.
Increase Probiotic Intake: Probiotics are the good kinds of bacteria that keep your gut and digestive tract healthy. They’re typically found in fermented foods, such as apple cider vinegar, and help lower the number of inflammatory bacteria, which can stop excess gas, bloating and illnesses. Studies have shown those consuming a probiotic-rich diet experienced significantly less gas, cramps, abdominal inflammation, and body odor.
Avoid Sugar: Eating too many sweets not only makes the waistline suffer, but can also make you stink. Literally. Eating sugar nourishes the bad kinds of internal bacteria, which promotes an overgrowth of yeast that converts the sugars to alcohols. This smell will be anything but sweet. For help on ending your sugar cravings, read our helpful blog Crush Your Cravings.
Substitute with Citrus: The citric acid in lemon and lime juice can kill the bacteria that causes the unwanted armpit odor. Many people swear by this method of deodorizing, especially Fara – a beauty blogger who lives in the sweaty city of Miami. Before putting the lime juice on your under arms, Fara recommends squeezing the lime or lemon to makes releasing its juice easier. Then cut it into slices and swipe it under your arms. Just be sure not to apply to recently shaven armpits – ouch!
Do It Yourself: There are many ways you can make your own deodorant that combat body odor just as well as antiperspirants without subjecting your skin to the variety of toxic chemicals. The most simple and cost effective way to create your own deodorant is made by mixing ⅛ of a teaspoon of baking soda with a little bit of water. Don’t add so much water that the baking soda dissolves, but just enough to make it into a paste. If you don’t like how wet this feels, add a pinch of cornstarch to thicken the mix.
These alternatives we recommended are naturally acidic enough to stop the real source of body odor – the bacterial growth! If you’re reading this thinking, “Ok… I absolutely cannot walk out of my bathroom without applying deodorant,” then we recommend using Tom’s of Maine brand deodorant because it’s aluminum-free and fragrance-free. Trust us, your body will thank you in the long run!
