Antiperspirants can make you smell bad
Antiperspirants are very commonplace these days, as they reduce sweating that causes odor. However, ingredients in antiperspirants called parabens have been shown to cause cancer.
Now, Real Clear Science reports that these deodorants affect the balance of bacteria in your armpits, and that antiperspirants can make you smell bad.
Sweat has an odor because of the way the bacteria in the armpits break down lipids and amino acids.
Antiperspirants use antimicrobial substances to kill the bacteria that causes odors, and also uses other ingredients like aluminum to block sweat glands.
Study shows that antiperspirants can make you smell bad
According to the article from Real Clear Science: “To uncover how deodorants and antiperspirants affect armpit bacteria… a team of researchers recruited eight subjects for a task a great many people (and especially their friends) might deem unbearable:
Six males and two females pledged not to use deodorant or antiperspirant for an entire month.
Specifically, four subjects stopped using their deodorants and another four stopped using their antiperspirant deodorant….
Another control subject who did not regularly use either was asked to use deodorant for a month. The duration was chosen because it takes approximately 28 days for a new layer of skin cells to form.”
Every participant in the study experienced a change in armpit bacteria. The subjects who used antiperspirants had an increase in Actinobacteria, which are responsible for bad armpit odor.
Leading physician and health expert Dr. Joseph Mercola believes that antiperspirants should be avoided. “My personal recommendation when it comes to antiperspirants is to avoid them. It’s been well over 40 years since I quit using antiperspirant or deodorant–even natural ones, Mercola explains.
“I find that regularly washing my armpits with soap and making sure my diet is clean with minimal sugar and plenty of fermented vegetables are all that is needed to keep my armpit odor from being offensive,” Mercola adds.
This study showing that antiperspirants can make you smell bad was published in the Archives of Dermatological Research.
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REFERENCES:
1. “Antiperspirants Can Make You Smell Worse.” Mercola.com. Mercola.com, 28 Jan. 2015. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.
2. “Antiperspirants Alter Your Armpit Bacteria and Could Actually Make You Smell Worse.” Real Clear Science. Real Clear Science, 11 Aug. 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.
3. “Deodorants and Antiperspirants Affect the Axillary Bacterial Community.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. U.S. National Library of Medicine, Oct. 2014. Web. 02 Feb. 2015.
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