Deodorant

Aajonus identified aluminum as a primary toxic agent in deodorant formulations. He explained the function of aluminum in these products plainly: aluminum holds things in place. Because standard deodorant substances would otherwise perspire away into clothing, manufacturers added aluminum to anchor the product to the skin. He described this as a design decision made entirely for cosmetic and commercial reasons, with no consideration given to the fact that this same holding mechanism contaminated the skin and drove the aluminum into the body.

He understood aluminum as a toxic metal that accumulated in tissue, and he placed it in the same category as other industrial metals that entered the body through multiple routes including vaccines, cookware, and personal care products. The deodorant application was particularly problematic because the armpit is a thin-skinned, highly absorbent area with concentrated lymphatic activity directly underneath it.

Aajonus distinguished between the general category of deodorants and the specific function of antiperspirants, which he described as substances that blocked perspiration. He understood this as a direct interference with one of the body's most essential elimination pathways. He stated that ninety percent of the body's waste products are supposed to be perspired out through the skin, meaning any product that interfered with that process was causing waste to back up inside the body, forcing it into other systems or causing it to remain stored in glands and nodes.

The armpit is a site of particularly active lymphatic movement. Blocking perspiration in that area did not simply prevent odor; it prevented the body from moving accumulated toxins outward and out of the body. He viewed this as a direct cause of toxic accumulation in the lymph nodes of the breast region, which created the conditions for cancer development.

When asked specifically whether crystal deodorant was natural and therefore acceptable, Aajonus said it was not completely safe. He explained that the mineral crystal somewhat clogs the pores, which creates the same fundamental problem as conventional antiperspirants even if it avoids the specific chemical compounds of commercial formulas. He did not endorse it. His stated preference was applying lemon or lime juice to the armpits and wiping, which he considered the genuinely safe alternative.

Aajonus stated directly that deodorants are the leading cause of breast cancer, and he confirmed that this is accurate when others expressed skepticism or assumed it was exaggerated. He framed the mechanism as follows: the lymph nodes under the arm are a concentration point for toxins moving through the body in any case, but deodorants advance and accelerate that buildup. In some cases, the buildup that ultimately caused breast cancer would not have occurred and would not have caused cancer if not for the ongoing toxicity introduced by deodorant use. He had been aware of this connection for over 26 years at the time he addressed it in his Q&A correspondence.

Aajonus recommended lemon or lime juice as a genuine alternative to commercial deodorant. He specified that lime juice was preferable to lemon because lemon still causes a slight amount of fermentation activity in the armpit, which can produce a slight odor. Lime juice does not have this effect. Both are acceptable as anti-odor methods, but lime is the cleaner option in his view.

His standard practice for himself was to put some lemon under the armpits to cut odor, and he described bathing once every five to seven days while using this method without producing significant body odor. He described his own prior condition as extreme, noting that when he was severely ill his feet could be smelled two rooms away and he sometimes had to bathe twice a day. On the Primal Diet with coconut cream as his only soap and lemon juice on the armpits as needed, he no longer had those problems.

He recommended rinsing the underarms and crotch and neck, the areas where most odor originates, with water containing a small amount of coconut cream, then applying diluted lemon juice to those areas as a targeted approach that avoids full body bathing when not needed.

In his recipe book, Aajonus provided a specific formula for those who needed an antiperspirant effect without chemicals. The process involves cutting pieces of lemon rind and pulp with no juice and drying them in the sun for thirty days. The dried material is then ground into a powder. This powder is brushed into armpits that have been splashed and rubbed with lemon juice first. He presented this as the appropriate natural antiperspirant.

Aajonus addressed body odor in the broader context of what is actually happening in the body when it detoxifies. He explained that people who begin the Primal Diet often experience increased body odor as the body begins releasing stored toxins, including synthetic flavorings and artificial fragrance molecules that are stored in fat cells. He described these as plastic fat molecules that came from processed food additives such as artificial strawberry flavoring in ice cream. When those fat cells are broken down and the stored substances are finally metabolized and released, the odor disappears. Until that point, the body may smell stronger.

He also noted that eating too much fermented food or fruit can cause increased perspiration and stronger odor as a side effect, and that people who experience this often respond by using more soap and more deodorants, which he identified as a directly harmful response to what is actually a healthy elimination process.

He reframed strong body odor in a broader anthropological context as well, noting that tribal peoples including the Maasai, Samoans, and Fulani have very strong body odors, and that this strong odor functions as a natural insect repellent. He pointed out that sexual scientists who study human sexuality identify body odor as among the strongest attractants in human experience, and that the cultural conditioning against natural odor exists primarily because it is profitable for soap, cologne, and perfume industries to train people away from their natural scent.

Aajonus connected the aluminum in deodorant to the aluminum present in synthetic fabrics, noting that unnatural fibers often contain aluminum because aluminum holds things in place. He identified this as the same material logic: in fabric, aluminum fixes the synthetic structure; in deodorant, aluminum fixes the product to the skin surface. Both involve aluminum entering or remaining in contact with the body.

In his newsletters, Aajonus listed specific commercial deodorant products as examples of personal care products containing toxic chemical compounds. Products he listed included Old Spice High Endurance Stick Deodorant, Right Guard Sport Deodorant, Queen Helene Tea Tree Oil Deodorant, Aloe Deodorant, DeCleor Deodorant Stick, Epoch Deodorant with Citrisomes, and X Air Maximum Strength Deodorant. He placed these alongside other personal care products in discussions of the widespread penetration of industrial chemicals into everyday consumer goods.

Aajonus placed deodorant chemicals within his wider argument that the skin is a two-way membrane and that chemicals applied to it enter the body. He described a situation in which formaldehyde, steroids derived from formaldehyde, and other toxic compounds enter the body through soaps, shampoos, makeup, and deodorants. He noted that modern soaps were once made from coconut cream, which was genuinely cleansing and non-toxic, but that manufacturers replaced coconut-based formulas with petroleum-derived chemical compounds for economic reasons. He described all modern commercial soaps as chemically poisoned, containing steroids that are products of formaldehyde, and he used this to frame deodorant use as part of a broader pattern of chemical contamination entering the body through the skin rather than through food or air alone.

He was explicit that the skin absorbs whatever is placed on it, that 90 percent of the body's toxic waste is supposed to leave through the skin via perspiration, and that any product that clogs pores, blocks perspiration, or drives additional chemicals inward through the skin directly works against the body's elimination architecture.

Aajonus's personal protocol used coconut cream as his only soap for the entire body including hair. He described letting coconut cream sit unrefrigerated in the bathroom until it turned pink, indicating fermentation, then mixing one ounce of the fermented coconut cream into eight ounces of water, wetting the hair and body first, and applying that mixture as both shampoo and body soap. He stated that this was his soap, his shampoo, and everything, with no commercial products used.

He positioned coconut cream as the appropriate cleaner because of its fat composition. He explained that 93 percent of the 80 percent of fat that makes up coconut is water-soluble, making it a highly effective cleaner that does not leave heavy oil residue and does not introduce toxic chemicals through the skin. He described it as the best cleansing fat available and noted that before the chemical revolution, 60 to 90 percent of all body soaps and laundry soaps were coconut-based. The shift away from coconut to petroleum-derived soap was purely economic and came at the cost of consumer health.

For deodorant purposes specifically, coconut cream combined with lemon juice on the underarms was his recommended approach, with lime juice on the armpits as the primary anti-odor measure.

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