Dear Fit,
I'm a big fan of wearing antiperspirant because I don't want to be stinky. Recently though, a friend of mine told me it was unhealthy to wear it while exercising because antiperspirant prevents your body from naturally excreting harmful toxins. Is this true?
— Pondering Antiperspirant Pam
This is a wonderful question as exercise and sweating go hand in hand. To hear what I have to say on the matter, read more.
Sweating is your body's natural way of regulating your body temperature. When you're hot, your body emits moisture from its sweat glands to cool you down. If you wear an antiperspirant, the aluminum used in them penetrates your sweat glands and squeezes them shut, which prevents you from perspiring. Don't worry about the idea that sweating releases toxins, since only trace amounts of toxins are present in your sweat. Remember that sweat's only purpose is to cool you off. Since your armpits aren't the only place you have sweat glands, your body can still find a way to lower your body temp if you get too hot while exercising. So as long as you can wear antiperspirant while working out without overheating, you can feel good about slathering it on to prevent odor. If you do feel it's unhealthy to stop your body from sweating, you can buy deodorant without antiperspirant, which will help control odor but won't prevent perspiration.
On a related note, you may have heard that aluminum in antiperspirants causes breast cancer, which is what your friend may be referring to as harmful, but that myth has been debunked.
Alexander McQueen
Crocs
Jasmine Di Milo
Aluminum antiperspirants are not dangerous, just gross and for me, a little irritating. I hate the clothing stains from aluminum antiperspirants much more than sweat. I've been experimenting with the aluminum-free "natural" deodorants, they're pretty much all just OK so far.
1For the scoop on debunking myths in general, check out snopes.com (but you probably already know that). I don't like the stains, either, and even the ones that purport to be stain-free aren't. I wear it only on days when I need to be dry or non-smelly. I really do sweat; I don't perspire ...or glow.
2I always cake on deodorant before running. For one, I don't want to smell but also, if I sweat under my arms too much, they'll chafe which just plain sucks. So I try to keep my armpits dry. Usually my neck and forehead sweat the most anyway.
3Tidal -- this doesn't help with the stink, but I sometimes use Body Glide "as" deorderant under my pits if it's a long run on a hot day -- no chafing !
4I had always heard that anti-perspirant wasn't good because of the clogging of the pores and sweat glands. My doctor had always recommended not using it... which works out great as I'm allergic to anti-perspirant anyways!
5I don't like the idea of anti-perspirants. But it is getting increasingly difficult to buy a deodorant without an anti-perspirant. The only one that worked for me was the Adidas aluminum free deo for women - can't find it easily nowadays
6I've heard that it's more dangerous to wear the clinical-strength antiperspirant than the normal kind because it can really make you overheat. I don't usually put antiperspirant on before working out because I just shower afterwards and THEN put it on.
7There has been info on the web about Aluminum Chloride, but when you read from a credited university, they say the amounts in antiperspirants are not going to be a problem. I use a product called Mon Ray Antiperspirant. I put it on at night and it does not effect me when I work out the following day. It is a great product. I wonder why the company does not advertise it.
8I was reading the comment above about Mon Ray Antiperspirant. Shocked to see this, as I know many people don't know of this product. I live in Houston, and it is a staple in our house hold. For some looking for it, I get it on this site. Hope it helps: www.monrayantiperspirant.com. Good Luck.
9I buy handmade natural deoderants from etsy.com. Wicked Clean stocks AWESOME deoderant that lasts through a workout.
Being smelly is pretty unavoidable in the gym though...~
10The FDA also approved aspartame so maybe find a non coopted organization to do your debunking instead of a corporate shill.
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