What does the kitchen sink have to do with your health?
You may have put this concept together already, and many of you are doing this without even realizing it! What am I talking about? The understanding that many of your everyday bathroom products, should be coming from ingredients in your kitchen! Still a bit confused, well let me explain!
The Problem with Conventional Bathroom Products
You can probably guess this… conventional bathroom products are filled with harmful chemicals. And not just one or two. Usually 5-10+ synthetic, laboratory made chemicals that do nothing but disrupt your normal health processes in some way.
Remember, toxic stressors are the things that you put in and on your body that negatively impact you in some way. Bathroom products tend to be a large piece of this. From soaps, to lotions, to toothpastes, to hair products, and more, you are probably using a product that in some way, shape, or form is bad for you!
And the more you use an unhealthy product, the more the toxic effect accumulates inside your body, and the more it amplifies the negative effect on your body.
Let’s look at a few and what the healthy alternative is:
CONVENTIONAL SOAP:
I’m mostly talking about the bottle of goo here. But heads up! Did you know that any soap product labeled as ‘natural’ does not need to be regulated for chemical ingredients?
This means that even though the soap is sold to you as healthy, it could be quite the opposite! These soaps commonly contain chemicals such as Phthalates, parabens, Sodium Laurels Sulfate (SLS), and Triclosan.
Phthalates are found in fragrances and have been linked to hormone disruption, birth defects, and developmental toxicity. Parabens are a preservative that are linked to cancers and developmental toxicity.
They are also damaging to the environment. SLS is used to add the foaming effect to hand soap. While it may seem and feel cool, it is actually a skin and eye irritant.
Would you use a skin clean product that only acted to irritate the thing it is supposed to clean? NO!! Triclosan is an ingredient that gives soap its ‘antibacterial’ properties. It leads to liver failure and Hypothyroidism over time as it accumulates.
The Kitchen Alternative – Force of Nature! This product uses electricity to convert salt, water, and vinegar into a cleaner/disinfectant. Once electrolyzed, it kills pathogens as effectively as bleach!
BODY LOTIONS:
You probably use this product to rehydrate your skin. But is skin hydration something that comes from outside your body?
No! If your skin is dry, your internal systems must be dehydrated first, and you need to consume more fluids.
That said, some of the harmful chemicals in most lotions include Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA), DMDM hydantoin, Parfum (fragrance), Parabens, and Triethanolamine.
So we’ve already covered Fragrance and Parabens. Two quick things to add is that certain lotions now contain Vitamin E oil as a preservative alternative. It works, but allows a much shorter shelf life.
Lotion fragrances emit harmful volatile organic compounds, which can lead to serious respiratory issues! If your looking for a special air filter to remove VOCs from the air – look to Molekule.
BHA is known carcinogen, and is also used in yeast infection treatments. Yuck! DMDM hydantoin, AKA Formaldehyde-releasing preservative, is definitely a known carcinogen!
The more impurities of the DMDM, the more Formaldehyde will be released. Triethanolamine is a pH balancer.
Even though it is considered nontoxic, you know the dangers of having the pH of your body thrown off for too long. So why put that on your skin?
Even worse, wastewater with this ingredient can cause toxic shock syndrome to marine life.
The Kitchen Alternative – Oils! Our favorite is coconut oil. It is rapidly absorbed by the skin, contains antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids that will nourish and moisturize your skin!
TOOTHPASTE:
You might already know that too much fluoride can cause fluorosis (discolored spots on teeth).
However, it can also cause a number of serious adverse health effects. Fluoride has recently been linked to contributing to Pineal gland calcification, and therefore dysfunction.
The pineal gland is the bodies hormonal producer of melatonin, helping to regulate your bodies sleep-wake cycle.
Other harmful ingredients include Triclosan, SLS, Parabens, Propylene Glycol, and artificial sweeteners.
So the ones we haven’t covered yet: Propylene Glycol is a preservative that has been linked to central nervous system damage (subluxation alert anyone?), liver, and heart issues.
Artificial sweeteners will actually decrease your bodies sensitivity to insulin, leading to the Type II and Type III diabetes that are ever present in today’s society.
The Kitchen Alternative – Coconut oil wins again here. Expectorating with coconut oil (swishing it around in your mouth) for a minimum of 15 min will help to keep your teeth healthy and pull a lot of the bacteria and other food compounds stuck in your teeth out. If you want a healthy toothpaste alternative, check out products like Better & Better, or Boka toothpastes. They’re both great!
DEODORANT:
The main culprit in deodorants is the aluminum, a heavy toxic metal, that you are introducing to your body in a very sensitive place near lots of your bodies lymph nodes!
Aluminum or any other heavy metal used in a deodorant is a DNA disruptor, which leads to cell mutations and ultimately cancer.
If you are using a spray deodorant, there is some level of butane used as a propellant. Another carcinogen, that also leads to reproductive problems in females.
Other toxic chemicals in deodorants include Triclosan, Phthalates, Parabens, and Triethanolamine (see above).
The Kitchen Alternative – Primally Pure! This product is a deodorant that uses coconut oil, beeswax, and arrowroot powder as a base; Kaolin clay and baking soda as detoxifiers; and essential oils as fragrance. It is the best on the market to keep your sweat at bay using ingredients in your kitchen!
TAKEAWAYS:
So, turn your bathroom into a secondary kitchen! Some of the examples used here are a great place to start or to add on to your healthy bathroom habits!
But what is the BIG takeaway? To better your health, you need to implement changes to your everyday habits. The products you use in the bathroom are one of those habits.
And the cool thing is, it’s simple to get rid of a bad, unhealthy product and replace it with a healthy one. So, if you are asking the question, “well, what else can I do to improve my health?”, it may be as simple as turning your bathroom into your kitchen!
Bonus: All the water you’re using while in the bathroom shower and at the sink matters too! Is that water filtered to remove metals, pathogens, and other toxic elements? If not, that is another toxic habit to break to keep you healthier.