Environmental Toxins: Is Your Shampoo Making You Sick?
Are you dealing with unexplained health issues? Are you struggling to lose body fat? The cause could be as simple as what is in your shampoo bottle. Environmental toxins, or environmental estrogens as they are often referred to, could be disrupting your endocrine system and causing a host of problems. Simply put, your shampoo may be making you sick.
Environmental Toxins Around You
These toxins can be naturally occurring or man-made. You can be exposed to all of these through the air you breathe, the water you drink, the food you eat, the household cleaners you are using, and the self-care products you choose. Other sources could be mercury/silver fillings, dry cleaning chemicals, and belly button rings.
Toxins found in the environment are mercury, radon, formaldehyde, benzene and cadmium. Human-made toxins would be BPA, and pesticides (1).
How Do Environmental Toxins Affect Your Fat-Loss Goals?
The toxins you are absorbing will overburden the liver and kidneys. As a result, your ability to detoxify slows down, your metabolism decreases, and your risk of insulin resistance increases.
Why Is This a Big Deal for You?
The endocrine system is responsible for regulating hormones and functions associated with mood, growth, and development, tissue function, metabolism, sexual function, and reproduction. When toxins are not properly excreted from the body they keep recirculating becoming more and more toxic, which will make you fatter and dramatically increase disease risk.
What Are the Signs of Toxin Storage?
One way to check if you are storing too many toxins is with your hamstring fat. When the hamstring stores extra body fat it is a good indicator you have been exposed to an environmental toxin and you are not excreting them.
Extra body fat laden with toxins can lead to more than a poor body image.
Research
According to studies reported by WebMd, The National Institute of Environmental Health Services, and Physicians for Social Responsibility, environmental toxins have been linked to many different illnesses from lung disease, cognitive disorders, and even various types of cancer.
How To Reduce Exposure to Environmental Toxins
You can greatly reduce your exposure and toxic load by consulting www.ewg.org to check your personal care and household cleaning products. Choose products that are rated a 4 or below. Use stainless steel or cast iron cooking pans. Invest in a quality water filter and use it on the main tap in your home. Or better yet, have a whole house filter installed on the main water line into your home. Choose glass over plastic storage containers and use glass or stainless steel water bottles. Never heat food in plastic or drink from a warm water bottle. Exercise caution during home renovations or DIY projects by protecting yourself and ventilating the area properly. Keep in mind that repeated exposure is the main culprit to toxic overload.
By reducing your daily exposure you will not only reduce your possible disease risk but your fat stores as well. Follow our step-by-step checklist on the next few slides!
Environmental Estrogen Checklist
Where do phthalates, parabeans, heavy metals, and harmful BPA’s come from? They can be in your detergents to the coating of pharmaceuticals, or cheap supplement tablets. Wrappers and can linings are other sources, hence the validation of avoiding. Follow the directions below to limit your exposure.
Step 1: How to access ewg.org
- Type ewg.org into URL
- Hit search cosmetic database (mid page, left side)
- Search products with the goal of attaining “1” or “2” scores
- If necessary use Ewg Healthy Living app to find a better cosmetic alternative
Step 2: Avoid all plastics
- Never microwave in plastic
- Plastic water bottles, grocery bags, fresh produced wrapped in plastic – ask for paper wrap, etc..
Step 3: Avoid heavy metals from non-stick pans and canned foods: use pans below with organic butter, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.
- Ceramic
- Cast iron
- Stainless steal
- Avoid canned foods that are not organic and do not say “BPA FREE LINER”
Step 4: Strive to use a water filter at all times
Step 5: Eat organic in an effort to lower pesticide and hormone/antibiotic consumption
- Google search Dirty Dozen/Clean 15 for organic buy list
- Wash fruits and veggies before consuming
- Grass-fed meats
- Free-range chicken
- Wild meats
- Fresh water fish, avoid farm raised
Step 6: Other contaminates to avoid
- Fluoride (toothpaste, water)
- Mercury/Silver fillings
- Weekly dry cleaning service
- Belly button rings
- Aerosols and air fresheners
- Prescriptions/OTC
- Anti-bacterial soap