Episode 6: Deodorant

Balance Out The Bad Podcast

You know, deodorant is actually super bad for you. I mean anti-perspirant. Yeah, so I guess that the aluminum inside deodorant, or whatever, you know I mean anti-perspirant, I guess that the aluminum can give you breast cancer or Alzheimer's. Yeah! I know! I had a hard time believing it myself but there is s c i e n c e behind it. So I stopped using regular deodorant and only use aluminum-free deodorants instead. My body got used to it so yeah, I sweat a little bit but who cares?! I don't want that shit in my body! I don't want to get tumors or Alzheimer's! I don't smell. Or at least I think I don't. Whatever, though, smelling is natural. Why should I cover up my sweat smell?! So word to the wise: don't wear anti-perspirant. You can find these natural ones at Whole Foods or online too! I love feeling sooooo natural!

Yes, friends. That person I'm quoting...is me. I used to be that person. Never pointing to any actual science or study, never looking to back up the claims that I heard in passing from someone's Pinterest board or some health food store or a yoga teacher that I had once. Hearing a piece of superscary information, latching onto it as though it were Gospel truth (or Dianetics, if you have my same sense of humor) and spreading what I hadn't researched in order to be just a little bit superior.... Sounds like I was in prime editorship territory for an edition of that famed magazine Modern Jackass (as created by my fave podcast of all time, This American Life).

Sunscreen and deodorant are the two topics that I wanted to research most when we first started talking about a podcast, because they were the ones that sounded the most scary and like they made the most sense to be bad for us. Heavy metals in the body? Isn't mercury poisoning a thing?* Why wouldn't aluminum in the body be bad then, too? OKAY DECISION MADE NO MORE ALUMINUM DEODORANTS. I researched the shit out of deodorants/anti-perspirants for this episode, and found that there is literally zero basis for the claim that they cause breast cancer or Alzheimer's, and the reasons why we think that those diseases are caused by aluminum on the armpits are, frankly, humiliating. Have a listen and let us know what you think! Just as a footnote, I have on deodorant with anti-perspirant in its ingredient list, and also I have a plan to call out the next person who doesn't like wearing anti-perspirant as a the new editor of Modern Jackass.

*What's mercury poisoning?

Source links:

http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/antiperspirant.asp
https://web.archive.org/web/20040114053704/http://www.nbc5.com/health/2747353/detail.html
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2002-10-17-email-hoax_x.htm
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-advertisers-convinced-americans-they-smelled-bad-12552404/?no-ist
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/31/fashion/31Unwashed.html?_r=0
http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/myths/antiperspirants-fact-sheet
http://www.alz.org/alzheimers_disease_myths_about_alzheimers.asp
http://health.howstuffworks.com/skin-care/underarm-care/tips/deodorant-antiperspirant.htm
http://gizmodo.com/how-antiperspirant-works-and-who-it-might-hurt-1623458000
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3013594/
http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/ProductsIngredients/Ingredients/ucm128250.htm
http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/07/should-i-stop-using-antiperspirant.html
http://www.naturallycurly.com/curlreading/curl-products/curlchemist-the-truth-and-fiction-about-propylene-glycol/
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/phs/phs.asp?id=1120&tid=240
http://nymag.com/thecut/2015/06/everything-there-is-to-know-about-pit-hair.html