Harmful Chemicals are Destroying Your Hormones. Here's What You Can Do.
What we eat is crucial to building balanced hormones, but what’s equally important are our beauty products, toiletries and household cleansers!
Our toiletries and cleansers tend to get overlooked, yet the play a crucial part in causing painful periods and serious hormonal imbalances because of the harmful chemicals they contain called endocrine disrupters. Endocrine disrupters are chemicals that interfere with the production, release, transport, metabolism, or elimination of the body’s natural hormones, and they’re seriously bad news bears for all of human kind. These endocrine disruptors mimic your hormones, and cause you to be estrogen dominant.
Signs of estrogen dominance are painful periods, bloating, breast tenderness, irritability, moodiness, PMS, fatigue, weight gain, short luteal phase, infertility.
The majority of toiletries and household cleansing products on the shelves today contain xenoestrogens. These xenoestrogens mimic the functions of our natural estrogens and interrupt our hormone balance creating symptoms such as heavy periods, PMS, estrogen dominance, fibroids, etc.
Our skin has tiny pores all over the body, which are like tiny mouths after all! So it’s important to use natural and chemical free products! It’s also important to use household cleansers that do not have harmful chemicals as well.
Balance Your Hormones by Avoiding these Chemicals:
Glyphosate
Glyphosate has been shown to cause cancer, research is linking it to autism, and the EU deemed it so dangerous they banned it for use in crops. My hope is that one day soon it will be banned in the U.S., but for now as consumers we must be proactive to avoid ingesting it.Most tampons and pads are made from GMO cotton, so they contain glyphosate, and you do not want this stuff inside your vagina! Instead, opt for a menstrual cup like SAALT, or period panties like THINX, or organic, non-bleached tampons or pads.
Bisphenol A (BPA)
To avoid BPA we must avoid foods packaged in aluminum and plastic (BPA free is okay but aim for glass or stainless steel when possible). Always opt for glass Tupperware, and only drink out of stainless steel, glass, or BPA free plastic water bottles.
Phthalates and Parabens
The products you use to clean your bathroom and household are potential stressors to your health. New scientific research shows that many of the chemicals found in everyday house-cleaning products are bio-accumulative and very toxic, which means that once in your system, they stay in your system and allow for increased free radical damage, which makes you more vulnerable to autoimmune diseases and cancers.Ready to throw things out now? Find your bleach products, Comet, Ajax, Windex, Lysol, air fresheners, Glade Plug- Ins, cute toilet bowl cleaners, and talc-based baby power. Throw them in a garbage bag and toss them out!
Safe Household Cleansing Alternatives:
Branch Basics
DoTerra On Guard house cleanser
Arm and Hammer baking powder in replacement of Ajax or Comet
Hydrogen peroxide in place of Windex
White vinegar instead of bleach (it’s a great grease cutter)
Dr. Bronner's
White Vinegar All Purpose Cleaning Recipe:
In a spray bottle fill with half white vinegar and half water
Put in 15 drops essential orange oil and 10 drops tea tree oil
Safe Toiletry and Beauty Product Alternatives
Makeup: the average women puts 5 pounds of makeup on her face in a year so it’s crucial that you’re using a chemical free brand such as Beauty Counter. My personal faves are their Dew Tinted Moisturizer with SPF 20, Color Intense Lipstick, and their “Flawless in Five” is a great bundle to get started with everything you need.
Lotions: Throw them away! Instead try jojoba oil with essential oils or Primally Pure’s Body Oil.
Toothpaste: swap for natural brands like Earthpaste, which is my favorite so far. Risewell is also a great option!
Deodorant without antiperspirant: ditch the antiperspirant and switch to a natural deodorant. My absolute favorite (because it actually works!) is Primally Pure’s Blue Tansy deodorant Use code ‘periodguru” to get 10% off your order. Actually, all clients in my Root Cause Program get this in their welcome package!
Bodywash- I’m a fan of Dr. Bronners or Jason’s body wash! .
Menstrual care products- conventional tampons and pads are bleached with chlorine dioxide which leaves a harmful byproduct called dioxine which is highly toxic. They’re also laden with the chemical glyphosate which is found in the pesticides sprayed on GMO cotton crops. To avoid this opt for organic unbleached tampons or pads, or better yet- period panties (I like Modibodi) or a menstrual cup like the one from Saalt.
As you can see, one must be proactive to reducing exposure to these hormone disrupting chemicals. But the good news is if you support your body, it will support you!