What is in your products MATTER. Knowing what is in your products is important. Knowledge is power. And as a mama, I need that knowledge because I bring in these products into our home and into our bodies.
Ingredients, as many of you might already know, are so important to me. I did a class while at University on the effects of endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are substances in the environment (air, soil, or water supply), food sources, personal care products, and manufactured products that interfere with the normal function of your body’s endocrine system.
The endocrine system is a network of glands and organs that produce, store, and secrete hormones. When functioning normally, the endocrine system works with other systems to regulate your body’s healthy development and function throughout life. So now picture every product you use containing chemicals that disrupt that normal function. This can lead to reproductive issues, like young kids hitting puberty way earlier than thousands of years ago (I don’t have all this information stored from where I got it, but you can google it.) It can lead to respiratory issues, developmental issues (this is what I studied in that class.). It’s scary, I challenge you to do some research for yourself. Let me know in the comments if you found anything interesting. THIS website I found explains more about it in simpler terms.
“Some EDCs act like”hormone mimics” and trick our body into thinking that they are hormones, while other EDCs block natural hormones from doing their job. Other EDCs can increase or decrease the levels of hormones in our blood by affecting how they are made, broken down, or stored in our bodies. Finally, other EDCs can change how sensitive our bodies are to different hormones. EDCs can disrupt many different hormones, which is why they have been linked to numerous adverse human health outcomes including alterations in sperm quality and fertility, abnormalities in sex organs, endometriosis, early puberty, altered nervous system function, immune function, certain cancers, respiratory problems, metabolic issues, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular problems, growths, neurological and learning disabilities, and more.”
Scary right?!
EDC’s are often chemicals found in things like scented products. That scented body wash, body lotion, candle. Anything scented contains the ingredient “perfume”, or “fragrance” contains EDC’s. Why, because fragrance is just the common name for scent. In order to get that smell they could add chemicals you have never heard of, and by law aren’t required to add it to the label. If you do anything or get anything from this. DON’T use products with fragrance. EDC’s can also be found in household chemicals, fabrics treated with flame retardants, cosmetics, lotions, and antibacterial soaps. (You can read more HERE).
Basically, things we use every day have EDCs, and they disrupt our natural body’s systems and hormones. The average woman puts 200+ chemicals before breakfast. Washing your hair, your face, your makeup. The soap residue from your coffee cup. Everything you use every day contains chemicals. Those crazy things on the label you can’t pronounce just might be a chemical that makes the product cheaper for the company and therefore cheaper for us. I urge you to look up some of those ingredients. Learn about them and see how you feel using what you’re using on yourself and your kids. Finding out that formaldehyde can be found in baby wash, I freaked. I ditched everything we had bought for M and got all new natural options! There are different options., different companies and many different alternatives. You just have to be willing to look!
So now what?
So, what do I use? What do I use for M? Well, I use a variety of products, all of which I either looked up in the thinkdirty app or I know and can understand the labels on the back! You can research products based on their ingredients, use an app to see which product is better or worse, and why. I mainly use YoungLiving products throughout our house. The guesswork is taken out for me. Everything is made with plant-based, natural materials. They are super transparent about it and I trust what I am using. It’s not for everyone, and that is okay. There are other options out there. If it’s important to you, and I hope that this helped convince you that it is. You’ll put the effort in to make those better decisions for your family. It’s not simple, and it can seem daunting, so much so that you just don’t want to. But before you get there, reach out! I’ll help. I’ll go through and break down some areas in our home and what products we use to stay tuned!
Love Crystal
