Inside: Antiperspirants have been linked to dangerous health effects. Read on to explore the health benefits of natural deodorant and which ones you should try!
Disclaimer: All of these thoughts are my own. However, as an Amazon Associate, I may earn a small commission if you purchase from one of the links below.
Growing up, I vividly remember seeing bottles of Certain Dri Antiperspirant peeking out beneath my mom’s teal Clinique makeup bag.
I may have been only seven, but I could surmise that she had a sweating problem.
And, like her, I would soon experience the same embarrassment from sweat stains dripping down to my belt loops.
The outdated, Christmas-Esque Certain Dri packaging was a far cry from most deodorants today. Understanding the demand for natural products, most brands incorporate a more health-conscious, clinical look to help sell their products.
But, just because we packaging looks better, are the deodorants inside really better?
Today, we’ll explore the health benefits of natural deodorant and why you should think twice before picking up that antiperspirant again.
5 Surprising Health Benefits of Natural Deodorant (And Which To Try)
- Why is it better to use natural deodorant?
- Do natural deodorants really work?
- How long does it take for your body to get used to natural deodorant?
- 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Natural Deodorant (And Which To Try)
- Which natural deodorants should I try?
- Final Thoughts on 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Natural Deodorant (And Which To Try)
Why is it better to use natural deodorant?
According to research, many antiperspirants are laden with toxic chemicals and heavy metals that can have dire consequences on your health, like cancers or other neurological diseases.
In contrast, natural deodorants use safer ingredients like coconut oil, cornstarch, arrowroot powder, etc.
The biggest difference is that natural deodorants refrain from using aluminum chlorohydrate and aluminum zirconium to block your pores; a common ingredient in antiperspirants.
Do natural deodorants really work?
The degree to which natural deodorants work depends on your unique pH balance. While the initial weaning off period may leave you smelling foul, natural deodorants have worked well in my experience!
In the past, I was using whatever drugstore deodorant I could find. I didn’t pay attention to the ingredients and chose what looked like it smelled the best.
Have you checked out my post on the dangerous heavy metals lurking in your products? Visit Discover the Dangerous Effects of Heavy Metals on the Body when you’re done reading this!
When I decided to make the switch, I changed over to Schmidt’s Natural Deodorant. However, I still smelled throughout the day and needed to reapply frequently.
A friend then told me about Native Deodorant, claiming that her mom used it religiously. I decided to give that a go, and it worked!
How long does it take for your body to get used to natural deodorant?
Throughout the first year, I needed to switch back and forth between brands about every three months. Basically, three months into using Native, I would go back to the previous bottle of Schmidt’s. After about a week of using Schmidt’s, I would then go back to using Native for another three months.
It took about a year before my body was completely used to natural deodorant. I’ve now been using Native deodorant for over three years with no problems; I seldomly reapply or have any stench.
Now, let’s look at 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Natural Deodorant (And Which To Try)!
1. Keeps You Sweating
Let me be totally clear: YOU NEED TO SWEAT.
Sweating is an extremely important way of releasing toxins from your body. If you stop sweating, then you risk building up toxins within your body with nowhere to go.
Throughout my childhood, I used a powerful antiperspirant to stop my middle school sweating problem. It was so powerful, in fact, that I’ve never had a single bead of armpit sweat since I was 12-years-old.
Now, I have the early signs of ALS.
For more on heavy metals in antiperspirants, check out Why You Should Be Careful of Sweaty Armpits (It’s Not What You Think) when you’re done reading this!
Obviously, I’ll never know if the antiperspirant is linked to my neurological disease. However, I do know that a person develops ALS because their body is incapable of oxidizing free radicals (A.K.A. my body doesn’t hunt down and kill dangerous toxins, so they’re seeping through the blood-brain barrier and causing my motor neurons to die).
2. Doesn’t Clog Your Pores
Antiperspirants keep you from sweating by temporarily clogging your pores with aluminum salts.
Although there’s been studies that show rabbits injected with aluminum phosphate experienced brain degeneration and deceased Alzheimer’s patients showed high levels of aluminum accumulation in the brain, some researchers still choose to believe that the data is inconclusive (especially when the inconclusive studies are funded by the International Aluminium Institute and the Aluminium Reach Consortium).
Even if it’s “not biologically feasible” to absorb a large amount of aluminum through your deodorant, why even risk it?
3. Helps Sensitive Skin
Because most natural deodorants are not aluminum-based, they contain safer ingredients that are easier on your skin. Natural deodorants will typically use ingredients with moisturizing properties like:
- Shea butter
- Cocoa butter
- Beeswax
- Coconut oil
- Aloe vera
- Vitamin E oil
Moreover, the fragrances in most commercial deodorants can irritate those with allergies or sensitive skin. Lookout for the term “fragrance” listed on a label. It’s usually an indicator that there’s an added chemical scent.
4. Neutralizes the Smell
Rather than blocking your sweat glands, natural deodorants keep you sweating while neutralizing odor. That’s because sweat itself doesn’t actually stink. “It’s the bacteria that grows on sweat that causes odor,” says Katie Sturino, founder of Megababe.
Ingredients like charcoal can help to draw out odor-causing impurities including bacteria, dirt, and oil. (You can also find it in Pacifica Coconut & Charcoal Underarm Detox Scrub and Lavanila Underarm Detox Mask.)
Once you get over the initial adjustment period, natural deodorants do just as well at blocking odors as aluminim-based antiperspirants.
5. Better for The Environment
Triclosan is an ingredient commonly added to many commercial deodorants because of its antibacterial properties. However, triclosan has been linked to more serious health problems. Some short-term animal studies have shown that exposure to high doses of triclosan is associated with decreased levels of thyroid hormones.
It’s also toxic to certain types of algae, leading to contamination of waterways and oceans. Triclosan affects the whole aquatic ecosystem.
Which natural deodorants should I try?
1. Native
2. BALI SECRETS
3. Tom’s of Maine
4. Underarmed
5. Weleda
Final Thoughts on 5 Surprising Health Benefits of Natural Deodorant (And Which To Try)
I feel so passionate about sharing my experience with toxins and heavy metals because I want to prevent these same neurological effects from happening to someone else! I wholeheartedly believe that we’ll look back in time a hundred years from now and be astounded by the things that we put into our bodies.
Just because using a heavy metal will give us a result that we want cosmetically, that shouldn’t negate all of the other side effects that can occur.
What natural deodorant do you use? Tell me in the comments below!
Allie Schmidt
Allie Schmidt is a rare disease advocate and disabled mom living with motor neuron disease. She founded Disability Dame in 2020 to provide tips to other moms living with disabilities and chronic illnesses.
In her spare time, you can find her traveling with her husband (she's been to 38 states and 16 countries!), watching reruns of Survivor, or tending to her near-constant sunburn from spending too much time outside. You can follow her adventures here.