The Issue with Crystal Deodorant Stones

Hi Guys!

I recently did a post on underarm health, and mentioned that we should avoid antiperspirants and switch to deodorants that don’t contain aluminum. Some of you asked me about crystal deodorants, and asked whether I recommend them. I didn’t know that much about them, so I decided to look into it, which revealed some interesting facts.

First, let’s review that aluminum is a poison, a neurotoxin that affects our brain, and does not serve our bodies in any way. If we use antiperspirants or deodorants containing aluminum, we can significantly increase how much of this poison enters our body. A review revealed that in one single underarm application of antiperspirant, about .012 percent of the aluminum may be absorbed. When we add that up for all the days we use that product, you can be sure that is a major amount of poison entering our body! Besides being linked to Alzheimer’s disease, a study in 2006 found that aluminum salts can mimic the hormone estrogen, and chemicals that imitate that hormone are known to increase breast cancer risk.

Crystal deodorant stones are often viewed as the healthy deodorant alternative. However, after doing my last post and because so many of you asked me, I researched it more. Here’s what I found: These crystal stones claim to be aluminum- free, but they are referring to the 3 types of aluminum that are most actively used by commercial brands. These specifically include aluminum chlorohydrate, aluminum chloride, aluminum hydroxybromide or aluminum zirconium.

Crystal deodorant stones DO contain a different type of compound known as an alum, the most common form being potassium alum, also known as potassium aluminum sulfate. This type of aluminum is made up of mineral salts and molecules generally considered too large to be absorbed by the skin- though there does not seem to be any solid evidence to support this claim. This makes it better than our commercial choices, but the fact remains that these products are not aluminum-free.

Because they are clearly not aluminum-free, there is still the risk of toxicity entering the body, and Alzheimer’s and all the health risks that go along with that. Therefore, I recommend that if you are using these crystal deodorant stones it would be better if you stopped- we don’t need the risk that this could be harmful to your body!!!

You can switch to the other brands like Tom’s when you really need it, which are aluminum and paraben-free, though they too are not completely perfect. Tom’s still contains the toxin Propylene glycol. If you are unsure about aluminum products, check the label not just for aluminum, potassium alum, potash alum, and potassium aluminum sulfate.

We can wash our underarms very well with soap and water, and as our diet improves, we generally stink much less! Summertime you may want to use it more, but maybe a lot of the time now you can skip…You may not need that deo as much as you think. 🙂

With Love, Kimberly