Woman rubbing back

Let’s chat body burden today, shall we!

Ohhh a topic I love and one that is near & dear to my heart. I wish I knew more about this from a younger age, but the good news is, it’s never too late to start making changes!

Body burden is the total amount of chemicals and pollutants that are present in your body at any given time. These chemicals come from the air we breathe, the food and drinks we consume, AND the products we apply to our bodies. 

Did you know:

  • US Women apply an average of 168 chemicals to their body every day in personal care products.
  • Women use an average of 12 different products every day (making up those 168 chemicals).
  • US Men apply an average of 85 chemicals a day.
  • Teens use an average of 17 personal care products every day.

Women have the potential for higher body burden (as seen above) because of our daily beauty routines. One of those routines is the application of make-up.  Environmental Working Group (EWG) detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families – phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks – in blood and urine samples from 20 teen girls aged 14-19. Studies link these chemicals to potential health effects including cancer and hormone disruption. 

Let’s look at this a bit further:

  • Scientists estimate that everyone alive today carries within her or his body at least 700 contaminants, most of which have not been well studied
  • Chlorinated pesticides such as DDT can remain in the body for 50 years
  • We are exposed to hundreds of chemicals in everyday products we use (paints, glues, cosmetics, fabrics, plastic food containers and pesticides to name a few)
  • Some of the chemicals we receive from our mothers in utero and through breastfeeding remain with us for years, an unintended legacy that our mothers pass on as their body burdens our own.
  • Some chemicals can cause damage through their ability to interfere with normal hormone function. These chemicals are called endocrine disruptors.
  • There are more than 80,000 chemicals used in commercial products, and only a small percentage of them have ever been screened for even one potential health effect, such as cancer, reproductive toxicity, developmental toxicity, or impacts on the immune system… It’s up to us to be our own advocates.

So why is this so close to home for me… because I lived it! I had such a high level of body burden that my endocrine system was furious with me. I rarely menstruated, my skin showed my stress, and my hopes to become a mom seemed impossible. It took a few years, a lot of learning and change, but my body became way less stressed! My skin cleared up, my energy came back, and I have been able to get pregnant and have 2 babies.

It’s not too late to make these changes, I promise!