I had the same problem. I sweat pretty badly and hated how just deodorant would leave me with pit stains. Eventually in Europe I discovered crystal deodorant, which works perfectly. I sweat just enough. The brand I use is Deo Crystal and it's water, vegetable glycerine, and crystal...whatever that is.

I think the "crystal" is Alum; at least according to:

"...crystals of alum, know locally as tawas, into their armpits. The antiperspirant crystals that you can buy, and which are often marketed as a 'healthy' alternative, are also made of crystal of alum. Crystal of alum is an aluminium salt, and reduces sweating in exactly the same way as a 'modern' antiperspirant - by mixing with sweat to form a thin coating that temporarily reduces sweating. Indeed, the active ingredients of modern antiperspirants are also aluminium salts; usually Aluminium Chlorohydrate (ACH), or Aluminium zirconium tetrachlorohydrex GLY (AZAG)." from

"have seen these mineral deodorants before. They do look like a hunk of plastic, or glass. That’s because they’re made from a mineral known as potassium alum, also known as potassium aluminum sulfate. "
from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alum

I guess I should consider myself lucky; my underarms sweat if i am very hot, say walking outdoors in summer in the middle of teh day, but I never smell, nor do my clothes. Haven;t had to use anti-persp or deo all my life. I wonder why though?

Atkins was not overweight when he died, he was at a very healthy weight before hitting his head and going into a coma. When the body is in a coma the metabolism slows to a crawl and so do all functions. It is not unusual to become bloated with fluids of your own body. Not to mention the fluids they were adding to him intravenously. The media in an attempt to discredit the poor man and his diet didn't present this.

And even though you didn't ask, I'm going to address his heart disease and yes he did have that too. He had a kind of heart disease that is caused by an infection ONLY, and not by diet. Of course the press failed to add the part about the infection and played on the heart disease.

"A report from Atkins Nutritionals states that he played tennis competitively and that his weight was frequently checked, and in the years before his death was below 195, and six feet tall. And a medical report at the time of his admission to the hospital, which was later made public by his widow, states that he was 195 lbs on admission to the hospital.
Atkins' Death
On April 8, 2003, at age 72, Dr. Atkins slipped on the ice while walking to work, hitting his head and causing bleeding around his brain. He lost consciousness on the way to the hospital, where he spent two weeks in intensive care. His body deteriorated rapidly and he suffered massive organ failure. During this time, his body apparently retained an enormous amount of fluid, and his weight at death was recorded at 258 pounds. His death certificate states that the cause of death was "blunt impact injury of head with epidural hematoma".

Following this, a Nebraska doctor known to be anti-Atkins, and associated with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, requested Dr. Atkins' medical records, which should not have been released, but which mistakenly were sent. The Medical Examiner's report had a hand-written note that Atkins had a history of myocardial infarction (heart attack), congestive heart failure, and hypertension (written "h/o MI, CHF, HTN"). The above Committee made much of this and began the rumor that Atkins had "died of his own diet". The misconceptions remain to this day.

The year following his death, his widow released a statement taking what she called "unscrupulous individuals" to task for spreading falsehoods about her husband.

Apparently, those individuals are still having a measure of success.

* In March 2007, Newsweek magazine published a correction stating, "An earlier version of this story contained an inaccurate account of events surrounding the death of Dr. Robert Atkins. Newsweek regrets the error." "
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/at...atkinsdeath.htm

Couple of points....

1. He was 72
2. He was walking to work
3. He was a very public figure and was seen and photographed in public on many occasions before he died
4. Vegetarian activist wackos lie and use this man's death to promote their agenda

Some articles have pointed out that his admittance weight of 195 lbs (6 feet tall) puts him in the overweight category.

I am 6' tall. 195 lbs at that height for a man isn't skinny, but it sure doesn't make him a lard-butt by any stretch of the imagination.

My goal weight is 190.

Still...I must emphasize....he was a 72 year old man WALKING TO WORK! Helloooooooo!

Poor guy though, very tragic. RIP.

I think it is great that you are taking the time to defend Atkins.

But is it not a sign of the times that we think it is heroic for someone to WALK TO WORK at the age of 72???

My Dad is 74 (since a day or two ago) and has just taken up cycling!!! Admittedly, this is partly because his wife wants the car and spends money like water, but still...

Walking and being 70-plus should not really be such an amazing thing!!!

But in these car-crazy times, it seems to be some kind of miracle...

amanda

PS
I am one of those weird people who didn't get round to getting a driving licence in my teens - took lessons in my late 20s but then had an accident which used up all my savings - and since then I married a man who doesn't want to have the hassle of owning a car so I have given up on the idea of learning to drive... I managed to earn a living between 18 and 33 all by myself without a driving licence and between the age of 33 and 45 have raised two daughters. And, although I feel like a kind of cripple, I am content with my life and what I have achieved despite my lack of driving licence. Plus, with my being outdoors more than car-drivers, I am confident that my Vit D levels must be relatively OK...

It's important to realize, too, that we will one day ALL die of something. There's no magic diet that can prevent all cancers, heart attacks, strokes, etc. So whether or not any one diet author gets a disease, in my mind, doesn't have reflect much on their diet. Surely the goal should be to live as healthy as Fate allows for as long as we have, not to try and live forever.

And Barry Groves is doing OK for a cancer survivor. Still writing books at the age of 70+ is pretty good going if you ask me. He also looks trim and slim and still takes part in archery contests as well, as far as I know.

amanda

LOL! Good point. My father in law was playing ice hockey once a week until he was 78! He only stopped because he was put on a blood thinner and it was advised that hockey was too risky in case he got injured.

We don't know what causes cancer for sure. All we know for sure is that there is no surefire defense against it yet, not perfect diet, not exercise, nothing. I don't think we can judge the validity of any way of eating, life or behaviour by whether the originator of it eventually got cancer or not.

You know, people seem to forget that people can be affected by a helluva lot more than just their food.

Right now you're in the crosspath of many energy fields, many of which are harmful long-term. (See Dr. Robert O. Becker's "Cross Currents" for interesting details.) Men worked with freon in various refrigeration units from the fridge to cars, only to discover it is hugely responsible for cancer. We are surrounded by radiation and chemicals even invisibly in buildings and the air and our food that contribute to poor health.

A person can eat stellar food and exercise and meditate and keel over and die from cancer that doesn't have a damn thing to do with their food. Sure, eating well gives a better immunity and resistance but that is not going to protect people from direct or indirect exposure to a variety of things that have a much stronger and quicker harm to the body than whether your diet is imperfect.

Aside from that, environmental effects start in the womb, and throughout childhood, and adulthood. I personally have 40 years of life experience prior to finding lowcarb that is part of my environmental and experiential profile of health, as well as all the genetics of my family, and my eating plan cannot take responsibility for any of that.

I think arguing over any eating plan based on how long a given individual lived or whether they died of something is ridiculous.

PJ

CANCER strikes like a thief in the night. It's etiology is clearly multi-factorial. Diet may or may not be only one of many components which contribute. Looking at the cause of death of various diet gurus is akin to reading tea leaves.

We're clearly lacking long-term studies looking at LC or ZC populations vs controls. Perhaps LC/VLC/ZC does NOT confer increased longevity; perhaps such regimens will be shown to lead to an INCREASED risk of cancer. Who knows??? We need the science from prospective research protocols......

The largest study of multivitamins and minerals ever performed to date found no statistically significant correlation between their consumption and cancer rates.

“Multivitamins no cancer, heart help, study says: Study of 161,000 older women echoed disappointing results in men.” MSNBC. 8/22/2009 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29106052/ns/health-heart_health/>.

The mechanism by which cancer develops is not completley understood. We do know that chronic inflammation plays a role, as organs which are chronically inflamed are more likely to develop cancer. This is why sun burns increase the risk of skin cancer. Obesity has been shown to increase cancer risk as well. Since diet can affect both obesity and inflammation levels, diet can affect our ability to develop cancer.

As far as toxins increasing cancer levels, it is probably true to some extent. However, pollution levels are far higher in China than in the United States, and they have much lower cancer rates. So currently the main factor appears to be diet.