Deodorant Alternatives

Commercial deodorants, including antiperspirant formulations, contain aluminum as a functional ingredient. Aajonus explained that aluminum is used specifically because it holds the product on the skin and prevents it from perspiring away into clothing. The consequence of this function is that aluminum contaminates the skin and underlying tissue at the same time. Aluminum accumulation is not a minor concern within this framework; it is connected to serious neurological and systemic conditions.

Blocking perspiration is itself a significant harm in Aajonus's view. Ninety percent of the body's waste products are meant to leave through the skin. When commercial antiperspirants clog pores and suppress perspiration, those toxins have no exit route and are instead stored in the body, where they advance disease. Any product that mechanically prevents the skin from doing its detoxification work is, in his framework, actively harmful regardless of what other ingredients it contains.

The crystal deodorant products sometimes marketed as natural alternatives were not exempted from this criticism. Aajonus stated directly that mineral crystal deodorants are not completely safe because they somewhat clog the pores, even if they do so less aggressively than aluminum-based commercial products. His recommendation was to avoid crystal deodorants and use lemon or lime juice instead.

The first and most consistently recommended alternative across Aajonus's workshops and written material was lemon juice applied to the armpits. The method is straightforward: splash fresh lemon juice under the armpits and wipe. He described this as effective in most cases of very strong body odor. It functions by reducing fermentation activity at the skin surface that produces odor, without blocking pores or introducing toxic compounds.

He did note one limitation specific to lemon juice. Because lemon still causes a slight degree of fermentation activity, it can produce a small residual odor. This distinction became important when he compared lemon to lime juice.

Aajonus made a specific distinction between lemon and lime juice in the context of underarm odor control. Lime juice, he stated, does not cause the slight fermentation activity that lemon does, which means it produces no residual odor at all. His direct statement was: "Lime juice won't" cause that slight fermentation, and he described both as acceptable deodorant methods while noting lime's advantage in this regard. For those wanting complete odor neutralization rather than merely reduction, lime juice was the preferred option.

Beyond basic odor control, Aajonus described a specific application for ginger juice used on its own. A single drop of ginger juice rubbed into the underarms, he wrote in the recipe book, "usually creates an alluring fragrance." This is not simply an odor-masking approach but one that works with the skin's chemistry to produce a pleasant scent rather than merely suppressing an unpleasant one. This was a separate use from ginger's role in the vegetable juice protocol described below.

Aajonus also addressed body odor from the inside, not only topically. One tablespoon of ginger juice and/or mint juice per quart of green vegetable juices was his recommendation for helping with body odor systemically. Pineapple was also mentioned in this context; he stated that pineapple sweetens body odor, though it should always be eaten with fat to prevent blood sugar disruption and to allow time-released absorption. Peppermint or spearmint added to vegetable juice, combined with a small amount of five percent pineapple puree, was another variation he mentioned when people on the diet experienced a significant increase in body odor as toxins began leaving through the skin.

Aajonus provided a specific protocol for those who needed not just odor control but reduction in perspiration itself. The recipe involves cutting pieces of lemon rind and pulp, with no juice included, and drying them in the sun for thirty days. After thirty days, the dried material is ground into a powder. That powder is then brushed into armpits that have first been splashed and rubbed with lemon juice. This is the only antiperspirant alternative he described, and it is notable that it uses the rind and pulp rather than the juice, following a separate thirty-day sun-drying process before use.

Coconut cream occupied a central place in Aajonus's personal hygiene protocol and carried relevance to underarm odor as well. He described using coconut cream primarily as his soap and shampoo, noting that he would let it sit out unrefrigerated in the bathroom until it turned pink, indicating fermentation, before using it. The fermented version he found more useful for breaking down toxins under the skin during massage; fresh coconut cream he used when he wanted to feed and neutralize the skin rather than aggressively cleanse it.

For areas of the body where odor concentrates, including the armpits, crotch, and neck, he suggested rinsing with water containing a little coconut cream and then applying diluted lemon juice and water to those areas between full baths. This kept odor manageable without the need for frequent full bathing or the use of commercial products.

He stated his own bathing frequency as once every five to seven days, attributing his low level of body odor to the diet itself and to the absence of toxic accumulation that would otherwise require frequent washing. Lemon under the arms was his stated solution for the slight armpit odor he did occasionally notice.

Aajonus treated body odor as substantially a dietary and detoxification phenomenon. As the body becomes less toxic through the Primal Diet, the intensity of body odor diminishes. He described people coming off heavily processed diets, including one person who had consumed large amounts of coffee, carrying strong chemical odors from their skin for extended periods, sometimes up to six years, as the body expelled accumulated residues. Hydrogenated vegetable fats, peanut butter, and similar processed foods were among the substances he connected to increased body odor during detoxification.

Conversely, people who ate heavily fermented or fruit-based foods could experience increased perspiration and stronger odor as a temporary side effect, which he described as an incidental consequence of those foods causing the body to perspire and detoxify more actively. His framing was that these odors represent toxins leaving the body, which is desirable even if socially inconvenient.

In the context of deodorants specifically, Aajonus's personal care protocol was deliberately minimal. He stated that his own personal care products consisted of lemon juice in the armpits, egg for shaving and hair, coconut cream for bathing, and nothing else from commercial sources. He named commercial deodorant brands including Old Spice High Endurance, Right Guard Sport, Queen Helene Tea Tree Oil Deodorant, DeCleor Deodorant Stick, Epoch Deodorant with Citrisomes, and X Air Maximum Strength Deodorant as examples of products on a list of toxic personal care items containing harmful chemical compounds. He connected the broader category of commercial personal care products, including soaps and deodorants, to the chemical contamination he consistently described as undermining health through daily skin absorption.

His general instruction, stated directly in a workshop, was: "Stop using deodorants unless it's lime juice."

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