if you need a chemistry degree, it’s not good for you
If you need a chemistry degree to figure out the ingredients on a label, then it’s probably not good for you. That goes for food, as seen with just about anything on the shelf within the perimeter of the grocery store, as well as the lesser thought about personal care products, which are probably even more burdensome. Personal care products are anything you put on your body. Things like deodorants, antiperspirants, cosmetics, female care products, shampoos, skin creams, perfumes, etc. When we slather these things on ourselves, it gets soaked up by the skin, and surreptitiously enters directly into our lymphatic and circulatory systems, depositing in internal organs and body fat. The increased burden to our body becomes clear when we realize that unlike the food we eat, the substances we apply topically completely bypass the filter we know as the liver. These substances can accumulate over time causing endocrine disruption (fucks up your hormones), and many of these chemical compounds even have links to cancer.
Some of the worst offenders:
Antiperspirants are filled with toxic compounds, the worst of which is aluminum. On study showed that after regular application it may contribute to disease processes such as breast cancer. Men are NOT excluded from this either!
Skin Creams are full of petrochemicals (crude oil derivatives). A 1985 study showed that mineral oil, a crude oil derivative, has so thoroughly infiltrated our tissues that nearly half the 465 participants were found to be developing lipogranuloma, which is the body way of establishing a barrier to the deposit of oily substances.
Detergents and Cleaning Products. A European study concluded that household cleaning products had a significant impact on respiratory function in those who used them frequently. Researchers equated the damage to smoking a pack of cigarettes a day for 20 years.
There is plenty more fun stuff where that come from. The point here is to be conscious about the products you are buying, and how you use them. Primary health is YOUR JOB, not your doctors. All our actions have consequences. Take a small step towards a healthier you by using some of the resources below to check out the products you’re using currently. It they don’t pass the test, throw them away and get something better.
Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep
IReadLabelsForYou.com
WellnessMama.com