is true. And it actually - makes us smell worse!

Hey guys, Tara here for Dnews, and for most of us - antiperspirant is as much a part of

our daily routine, as brushing our teeth. 90% of Americans use some form of it every

single day - but what if it’s doing more harm than good? Aside from all the potential

health side effects we hear about, could it actually be making us smell WORSE? Well, according

to a new study published in the Archives of Dermatological Research - that’s exactly what it does.

Before we get into this, let’s examine what actually causes body odor. It all starts with

sweat. The sweat we secrete through our armpits, contains lipids and amino acids - that get

broken down by bacteria, and that process is what creates the distinctive body odor smell.

Deodorants contain antimicrobial agents that kill off that bacteria, but they also contain

chemicals that replace the bad odors with good ones. Antiperspirants work the opposite

way, by physically plugging up our sweat glands with aluminum-based compounds. So where deodorants

can only mask the smell, antiperspirants actually prevent the sweat that causes it. Of course

most antiperspirants are also deodorants - so as far as body odor goes, they’re effectively working double duty.

It seems too good to be true, and like most things - it probably is. Messing with our

body’s natural composition of bacteria, typically comes with side effects. So to test

how these products affect us, a team of researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium, asked

6 men and 2 women to stop using any kind of deodorant and antiperspirant for an entire

month. Specifically, 4 of the subjects stopped using deodorant - and the other 4 stopped using antiperspirant.

As a control, they recruited another subject who didn’t use either one regularly - and

asked them to start using deodorant for the duration of the month.

At several points, before, during, and after the trial, researchers analyzed each subject’s

armpit bacteria - and found that switching hygiene habits significantly altered the bacterial

communities of each and every person. Specifically, they noticed one common trend among every

subject: which is that antiperspirants led to a clear increase of Actinobacteria.

Actinobacteria is just one of many kinds of bacteria living in the armpit, but it also

happens to be the smelliest kind, and it’s predominantly associated with BO. Meaning

the very substance that’s supposed to prevent body odor, is actually making us smell worse.

Now, why on earth would something like this happen?

Well, the author of the study believes the aluminum compounds in antiperspirant - are

killing off all of the good bacteria, and allowing the bad, more smelly ones to dominate.

Which explains why only antiperspirant is to blame. By comparison, the study found that

subjects who used deodorant - actually experienced a decrease in Actinobacteria.

So, what’s the take home message here? Should we all just forgo antiperspirant, and start

wearing deodorant instead? Well… yes and no. In the long run, deodorant is probably

better for you - but it still doesn’t address the root cause of the issue, which is the

bacteria that causes odors. All deodorant does is mask them. So really, it’s the lesser

of 2 evils. But there’s gotta be a better solution out there, right?

Well, there is - and it’s exactly what the author of this study is working on: armpit

bacterial transplantation. It’s when you take away the bad bacteria from someone with

body odor - and replace it with the good bacteria from a relative of that person, who doesn’t

have body odor. So far, they’ve tried it on over 15 people,

and for most subjects - they say it brings immediate improvement, that’s often times

permanent. Obviously, a procedure like this would be used for only the most extreme cases

- but for now, it seems like a natural - and more effective - alternative to deodorant

and antiperspirant. I’ll say this much - and it’s probably

TMI - but I stopped using antiperspirant regularly a couple years ago - now I use it maybe 2,

3 times a week - and I’ve actually noticed that even though I sweat slightly less on

the days I use it, I also smell more. So, I’m not entirely convinced it’s really

done a whole lot to improve my life. That’s just me though - I’m sure some of you out

there do a lot more strenuous activities than I, so maybe consult your significant other

before you throw your deodorant in the trash. It is a courtesy, after all.

[YOUTUBE] Now to completely switch gears for a second,

I wanna mention another show we have here at Discovery, called TestTube - that’s hosted

by Trace and myself. It’s a daily show, like Dnews - but geared towards current events.

Trace did an episode earlier this week on why the US and China are investing so much

money into Africa, and it’s a fascinating angle on that whole discussion. So if you’re

interested in learning more about that, just head over to youtube.com/testtubenetwork - and

you can watch all of our episodes in one neat webpage.