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There once was a time when smell was not something that we hid, it was something we relied on. Babies knew their mothers by scent, partners were drawn to each other by smell, and the body used smell to signal your health status, hormone status and emotional status. Today, instead of listening to that signal we mask, we spray, roll, rub, layer and mask our natural scent every single day w/ Perfume, deodorant & lotion.

And while the concern today isn’t the scents themselves, it’s how much we use, where we apply it, and of course, the chronic exposure over time. When we stop listening and start masking we lose an important form of communication between our body and brain.

Smell is one of our most primitive senses.

And while the concern today isn’t the scents themselves, it’s how much we use, where we apply it, and of course, the chronic exposure over time. When we stop listening and start masking we lose an important form of communication between our body and brain.

Somewhere along the line smelling human became something that we needed to fix. But our personal smell is actually information. Before logic- before memory & before words, the body communicated through scent

Smell is one of our most primitive senses- its tied directly to our:

Memory

Emotion

Our Attraction

Safety

& our recognition

Before modern hygiene products , humans recognized each other by scent.

Body odor-BO- isn’t just sweat- sweat itself is mostly water and salts-its odorless. The smell we call body odor comes from bacteria that lives on our skin interacting with our sweat and breaking down certain compounds-by compounds I mean the natural chemicals in your sweat- like proteins& fatty acids that bacteria break down to create the odor-

Deodorant vs- antiperspirant :

We are applying chemicals daily to a highly absorbent area near lymphatic tissue- remember they are in your armpits (dry brushing)

Deodorants- aim to reduce odor- they do not block sweat Antiperspirants- BLOCK sweat glands, using aluminum salts-aluminum salts are the active ingredient in antiperspirants- they temporarily block our sweat glands-which stops sweat from reaching the surface of your skin.-this is why they keep you dry-even when you are hot or exercising. Think of it like tiny plug in your sweat duct-

Food for thought: Breast cancer continues to rise in both men and women. Blocking/plugging sweat glands with antiperspirants on a daily basis could interfere with your body’s natural detox pathways in the breast tissue- it blocks sweat glands- so the toxins that are meant to come out- get backed up into our tissue- and overtime could lead to long term effects.

I need to say that there is no scientific proof that antiperspirants cause breast cancer- but it’s something to think about when deciding how and when to use it. I hope you think twice

Lotions and skin absorption:

Lotion is another big player in this conversation- and it’s not talked about a lot. Many-if not all lotions contain synthetic fragrance, preservatives and stabilizers designed to make them smell good- and to last on a shelf. By applying them everyday like we have been taught- not only are we moisturizing our skin-we are also covering up our natural scent.

With that being said- remember that your skin absorbs everything you put on it- our skin is NOT a barrier-it’s an organ- &what you put on it is absorbed into your body and becomes part of your overall chemical load over time.

Enjoy!

Joanne Demers

The Aging Mask- A Lifestyle Medicine Podcast

949)236-15

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