Switch Your Household Products - A CHEAP 'How to' Guide
Hey Friend! I want to chat briefly about household products. I know, I KNOW. I hear you. Don't go there, right? Don't come after my beloved moisturizer. Don't talk bad about my dream foundation. I know that it can be a touchy subject. But, guess what… I'M USED TO IT! Just try talking about someone's FOOD and see how they react!
Stick with me & hear me out. I promise I have good reason for encouraging you to take a second look at your products. As a matter of fact, I am going to go ahead and list some of the biggest here for you to see in black & white..
A quick recap from my monthly newsletter..
Cosmetic products very commonly contain heavy metals. Yes, that's right. Just like the lead paint we worked so diligently to rid our baby cribs, toys, and homes of decades ago when we realized the harm it was doing to our children who ingested in.
The US has shockingly slack laws involving ingredients like phthalates, parabens and formaldehyde. Allowing over 1300 ingredients that European countries have outlawed - As in, ILLEGAL to use due to being harmful. The US bans only 30 ingredients, where the EU bans 1400.
Okay, here's a biggie.. ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS. I know it sounds like a fancy biological term but stick with me, I'm going to make this as simple as possible. This is important! An endocrine disruptor is also called a hormonally active agent. Simply put - this means that it interferes with the function of hormones in your body. ANY system in your body that is controlled by hormones can be altered by endocrine disruptors. These systems involve development, behavior, and fertility. These endocrine disruptor can alter the levels of your body's own hormones. This works like a domino effect.. each hormone level affecting the next. CLIFF NOTES: It is bad, bad stuff!
My personal favorite point to make.. Absorbing these dangerous chemicals can make you up to 400X more sensitive to FOODS! If you have a food sensitivity or intolerance, or think you might, this could be a game changer for you! These chemicals can make our bodies drastically more sensitive to foods. I encourage you to use the ‘How to"‘ guide here to work through cleaning out your products if you think you or your children may have food sensitivities! (Especially in nursing babies who present with food sensitivities!)
Now, I promised you I would go into further detail about the hormone disruptors. After all, I don’t want my newsletter emails to be novels, right? So, if you’re here for all the detail on that continue reading here before we just into the step by step guide to cleaning our your products.
Endocrine disruptors are chemicals that interfere with the endocrine system. This essentially means any hormone system in your body. Clearly, this would involve your reproductive system. Everyone knows that is effected by hormones. Think your period, your fertility, your husband’s or wife’s fertility, etc. Parabens, for instance, have been specifically shown to cause reproductive tract issues. However, MANY systems in our body are controlled by hormones and not just the ones you may think! These can lead to cancerous tumors, birth defects, learning disabilities, ADD and other cognitive defects, as well as numerous types of cancer. These chemicals can cause changes in the levels of your body’s own hormones. Because of the interconnectedness of the endocrine system, the change in production level of one hormone can alter the levels of all of the other hormones in your body as well. Leading to a very dangerous domino effect.
I’ll leave you with two very important notes that I’d like for you to really sit with and meditate on for a moment.
There are endocrine disruptors that imitate estrogen. Why is this bad? Well, it can actually be very VERY bad. Ever heard of Hormone Receptor - Positive Breast Cancer? (Or Hormone-Positive Breast Cancer) This type of breast cancer uses Estrogen to grow. It quite literally feeds off of it. Excess estrogen in the body can have many detrimental effects, such as thyroid disfunction, but for those with a family history of breast cancer.. it is especially dangerous. And we wonder why breast cancer rates are ever increasing.
OKAAYYYYY HERE WE GO. Can I get real for a moment? And maybe even offend some people. Sorry, not sorry.
I’d like to call your attention to your children for a moment. I don’t mean to pull on anyone’s heartstrings simply to get a reaction. I want to make one thing VERY clear... And I will not mince words to make anyone comfortable when it comes to this because I truly feel that strongly about it. Everyone has those topics, right? Well, this happens to be one of mine. I wouldn’t be speaking my truth if I didn’t lay this out honestly for you! SO, here goes.
IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, you are making a
Significant
Tangible
Life altering
Dangerous
impact on their body & their longterm health by what you put on their little bodies, use on their clothes, wash their dishes with, etc. These chemicals have VERY REAL and scientifically proven effects. On metabolism, thyroid function, fertility, and risk of cancer. Now, don’t gloss over that. CANCER, THYROID DISEASE, INFERTILITY, AND METABOLIC DISORDER (obesity, PCOS, high cholesterol, etc) Don’t be fooled by the fact that the US allows them in our products. They are deadly and there is no debate on that point.
So, just marinate on that a little bit. Read and reread it. Do some of your own research.
Now, I don’t meant that one drop will kill you. I don’t mean we have to be perfect. (Who can deal with that pressure?!) Our bodies are magnificent machines. They are incredibly powerful. They have multiple systems designed just for filtering out toxins and they are amazingly good at it. BUT, when we overload our bodies for years, and years, and years we will reap the consequence of that. We will exceed what is referred to as our “body burden”, or what we can manage healthily. By making simple changes to the household products you use in your home you can make a MAJOR impact in the amount of dangerous chemicals that you and your children are exposed to year, after year, after year. Having a compounding effect on how much you are improving your health/decreasing your risk. This mean you can breathe. know that little Johnny is fine when grandma put different sunscreen on him. Know that little Jane is perfectly fine to go to friends’ houses and have her laundry done elsewhere and all of the other millions of circumstances in real life. What we want to do it make the LARGEST impact we can and reduce those chemicals over the longterm so that our bodies can do their magic and rid of toxins and our children not have to pay the price for it in their 40s.
Here’s How..
Download a safety rating app
I recommend “Think Dirty”. You can also use the Environmental Working Group’s app “EWG’s Healthy Living” …Go head… download it now!
Just for fun (and shock!), walk around your house and scan or type in the name of the products you use.
If using Think Dirty, you can see not only the safety rating score (you want it to be in the green) but a list of all of the chemicals and what their danger is. You will be able to specifically see if its an allergy concern, a cancer causing ingredient, a hormone disruptor, etc. etc. YIKES
Go into Kroger
It’s as simple as that. Simply scan the barcode or type in the name of products until you find one in the green. Take in the shock and awe as you realize they can often be the same price or cheaper than what you currently use.
You may find that adjusting to natural or safer products takes a bit. Your deodorant may feel different going on, your shampoo may take a bit more to get good and lathery. I’d encourage you to remember why you’re doing this. I promise, ITS WORTH THE ADJUSTMENT. If you truly don’t like what you got, go back next time with your app and try a different brand. After all, how many brands of makeup have you tried before you found yours?! But is was worth it, right? It was after all.. your makeup! Be just as patient with your other products also, even though they may not feel as crucial as your foundation!
Easy peasy, right! Now I want to include a breakdown of what I actually use (with pricing!) so that you know I’m not making all of this up!
Shampoo/Body Wash: Honest Company Shampoo + Body Wash, Dreamy Lavender (3) $9.99
Conditioner: Honest Company Conditioner, Dreamy Lavender (3) $9.99
Dish Soap: Seventh Generation Dish Liquid, Lemongrass & Clementine (1) $3.49
Dishwasher Detergent: Seventh Generation Dishwasher Detergent Packs 45 count (0) $6.10
Laundry Detergent: Simple Truth Free & Clear (3) $9.99 100oz Bottle
Deodorant: Toms long lasting deodorant, unscented (3) $4.68