Sweating It!

After visiting the Florida Grub Hub this week, Laura, the shop owner told me the funniest story of a mutual friend. Laura said that our friend came into the store and told Laura that she loved the way the Shoogie smelled but was concerned that it wasn't working because, she was still sweating...

Laura laughed and informed her that Shoogie is a deodorant, not an antiperspirant...and that got me thinking that I should do a post on this.  One should know the benefits of sweating...and for goodness sake, put on some Shoogie so you can smell good when you do.

But First...The Difference Between Deodorants and Antiperspirants

Deodorants and antiperspirants are not one and the same. Deodorants don't do much to actually stop you from sweating, they instead target the bacteria that feed on your sweat. They often contain ingredients that make your underarms inhospitable to these colonies or include antibacterial chemicals like triclosan to kill off the bacteria before they have time to digest your fluids. As such, the FDA regulates deodorants as cosmetics.

Antiperspirants, on the other hand, are classified as drugs by the FDA when combined with deodorants.  Wait, WHAT???  They first came to market at the turn of the 20th century in the form of Everdry. However, this product quickly became troublesome due to elevated levels of aluminium chloride, which causes contact dermatitis (read: itchy, irritated skin) in a portion of the population and can be fatal if large enough concentrations seep into the body and shut down the kidneys.  I don't know about anyone else reading this, but that is a good enough reason for me to never go near the stuff again!

Aluminum chloride compounds—such as aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex glyand—remain among the most effective antiperspirant agents on the market today. These compounds mix with sweat to form a gel-like plug that stops up the sweat gland duct (as well as causing it to constrict). The more pores that are plugged, the less you will physically sweat. Other active ingredients also regularly include parabens and Butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), which act as preservatives; masking fragrances, moisturizing emollient oils, emulsifying agents, and talcum powder to reduce friction.  

I could do a whole rant here on the health repercussions of such ingredients, but I will leave that for another day.  Looking closely at the Shoogie label, I never make products with any aluminum, Parabens, or talcum powder.  Instead, I choose ingredients that are natural emollients such as shea butter, organic coconut oil, organic almond oil, and organic jojoba oil, and moisture absorbents such as arrowroot powder and cornstarch.  The other mass produced store bought deodorants contain fillers and preservatives that are known to be harmful to the human body, but they are still allowed to put them in there in a low enough dose...which in my opinion is just plain CRAZY, but, with a warning label on a package, pretty much anything is possible with the FDA, I think.

With that being said, I asked myself...Why are we so afraid to sweat??? 

I know why I used to be afraid to sweat...being the weird kid hiding away in the gym locker room applying that wretched salt rock, that didn't work, sweating for me meant smelling like onions and a case of gym bag funk for the rest of the day until I could run home in shame to shower...but that was before Shoogie and before I realized that you could still sweat and keep your dignity in tact without poisoning your body with toxins like aluminum that are in all antiperspirants. 

One of the most efficient ways to detox your body — without the juicing — is to sweat. According to a 2011 study published in the journal, Archives of Environmental and Contamination Toxicology, the study found many toxic elements appeared to be excreted through sweat, and sweating appears to be a potential method for the elimination of many toxic elements from the human body.  Sweating can also flush the body of substances such as alcohol, cholesterol, and salt. The body releases toxins by using sweat as the conduit. “Sweat purges the body of toxins that can clog pores and plague the skin with pimples and blemishes,” Dele-Michael said.

So if you catch me out walking the historic route in downtown Ocala, I WILL BE SWEATING...because I know sweating is good for your body and although I am a fan of juicing, I am not a fan of being grumpy because I am hungry because I am juicing...so thank you, I will take a sweaty walk over juicing any day, as long as I have Shoogie on my bits & pits.   So get out there and sweat with Shoogie Naughty Bits & Pits, because sweating is good for you.  To purchase, visit: www.shoogieco.etsy.com -or- www.shoogiecompany.com 

Did you know? 

• Sweat is sterile and odorless when it is first secreted, only generating its telltale odor as the liquid is fermented by environmental bacteria. 

• In the case of armpit perspiration, there are two distinct types of glands that produce sweat: 
• The eccrine glands- cool the body, secreting only water and electrolytes. Given the relatively nutrient-poor quality of this sweat, it rarely attracts bacteria and does not strongly impact your scent. 
• The apocrine glands- transport fats and proteins to the skin's surface along with sweat, which are then digested by bacteria colonies—along with dead skin and hair cells—to produce the sweat odor as a metabolic byproduct.

• Bacteria thrive in moist, low pH environments created when you wash off the natural acid mantle produced by your underarms with alkaline soaps. Shaving your armpits aids in bacterial growth by removing the hairs that naturally wick moisture away from the skin surface. And while the average unwashed hermit or granola-pounding hippy will tell you that this natural musk is quite lovely, it's understandable that most of us opt for the fresh scent of deodorized skin.