Ingredient Education

It’s no doubt that we are all exposed to toxins throughout the day and sometimes they are truly unavoidable. 

Like the air we breathe or the water in our homes… and this is why it’s so important to minimize our exposure whenever possible. We need to be able to decrease in areas we DO have control over so we can decrease our body burden.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, probably until I’m blue in the face, but body burden is the concentration, or amount of, toxic load in the body at any given time. 

It is estimated that everyone alive today carries at least 700 contaminants in his/her body (and some of these are not well studied). This can be anything from naturally occurring substances (think lead, mercury, arsenic) or man made synthetics substances that are toxic to our systems.

So let’s take a look at the top 20 areas we may be exposed to these contaminants in our day to day life:

1. ?????- well water and city water can both contain heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and fertilizers.
2. ????- can affect your nervous system and cell function, also can really impact your sleep. 
3. ???????/ ???????- one of THE MOST harmful products many use on a daily basis and can easily be rubbed off onto children & babies
4. ????- crops that have been made resistant to herbicides and pesticides so they can survive heavy applications of the sprays- these are often covered with these toxins, including glyphosate
5. ??????????/??????????- “side” means to kill, so these are used to kill the bacteria/fungus/pests/etc that are on crops, but once ingested, think of what they are doing to your body and gut flora
6. ?????????- directly next to breast tissues and often contains aluminum and fragrance
7. ???????/?????? ????????- fragrance, quats, MI, artificial dyes, phthalates.. you name it! Most conventional laundry care products contain a slew of nasty ingredients and our clothing sits on us and our whole family ALL DAY LONG. These products go directly onto our skin!
8. ????????- between the preservatives and active ingredients, skincare products often contain a handful of ingredients I’d recommend avoiding. Many of these are endocrine disruptors or carcinogens and just not work the risk! Especially “anti-aging” products… read those labels and say no to retinal!
9. ?????? ??? ?????????- most often we apply makeup to our entire face, first thing in the morning and it sits on our skin all day long. Our face, is a large surface area, eyelids have thin skin and high absorption, and lip products can guarantee to be absorbed through the skin and be ingested when eating or drinking. The amount of fillers, harmful preservatives, colorants, fragrances, and metals that are found in most makeup is disturbing!
10. ??????- full body= large surface area. It’s easy to slap on anything, but keep in mind your skin is a carrier, not a barrier, so whatever you lather yourself with is going to be in your bloodstream in about 26 seconds!
11. ??????? ???? ??????????/???????- no need to store food in plastic containers or zip lock bags! Not only are they harmful for the environment, but they can leach chemicals (like BPA and phthalates) which can mimic hormones (like estrogen) and interfere with important processes in the body. Best to opt for glass or silicone storage.
12. ???????/??? ??????? ???????- the one product that many of us use for just about everything- an all purpose spray! Clean the counters, sinks, floors and spills… so we are exposed to it many times a day! These cleaners usually contain ethanolamine, ammonium chlorides, fragrances, and often dyes which cause lead to endocrine disruption, respiratory damage, and nervous system toxicity.
13. ???? ????????- Used daily to multiple times a week, so exposure to them is higher. Many times hair products are in aerosol containers which are harmful in and of themselves and the ingredients in majority of hair care is a LONG list and pretty toxic! PEGs, fragrance, formaldehyde, paragons and triclosan (to name a few).
14. ??????? & ??? ??????????- Not only is the fragrance in most candles toxic due to the hundreds of ingredients used to make up the world :fragrance”, but so is the paraffin wax. Good news- there are cleaner options!!
15. ??????????- almost a 3rd of our life we spend laying in bed (or a quarter if you’re like me) so the exposure is high! A few concerns with mattresses are the flame retardants used, the VOCs that are released with off gassing and the plastics used.
16. ????????- you guessed it… coatings like PTFE (teflon) can release  toxic materials into the food you are about to consume!
17. ???? ????????- our sweet littles deserve to start out toxin free, too! They can accumulate body burden much faster than we can because their detox system is less efficient than ours and toxins can accumulate faster.
18. ????/???? ?? ??? ??????- when we walk around outside we get fertilizer, pesticides, feces and most on our shoes and then we drag all of that into the home! Food falls on the floor, kids crawl around and we breathe in all these particles!
19. ?????????- Chemical Sunscreens (as opposed to physical) contain active ingredients that are actually being linked to some cancers. The inactive ingredients usually aren’t amazing either, but sunscreen can so easily be greenwashed!
20. ???? ??????- if you have ever stepped foot into a nail salon, you know the smell alone is toxic! Formaldehyde, Toluene, DBP, and other plasticizers in mail polish are all super toxic to our bodies

So now what? How to I decrease my body burden and exposure?

Here are some easy ways you can start!

• As you run out of something, replace it with a safe swap! Head over to the Master List to see my recommendations.
• Consider the products you use most often and that cover the most surface area of your body, and start there (lotion, laundry detergent, foundation)
• Join the Mama For Health group on Facebook and then message me and we can chat about a detox plan that can work for you and your family!

Ever heard the term greenwashing?

You’re not alone! For years I didn’t know what it was, but boy o boy, was I fooled by it!

Now that I know, I am amazed at how often I see it! Everything from food labels, to personal care products, to clothing companies, greenwashing is at an all-time high! You know why? Because companies are aware that consumers are WANTING cleaner products that are safe for their bodies and the environment.

Cambridge Dictionary says that greenwashing is designed “to make people believe that your company is doing more to protect the environment than it really is.”

So when a company is marketing and making claims that the are sustainable, reusable & recyclable, but put more time into marketing this than practicing it, that is considered greenwashing.

Another form of greenwashing is when a company claims to be organic, clean, green, safe, toxin-free, etc, yet when you turn the package over and actually read the ingredient list, is isn’t what it claims to be! Some major red flags that make me take a second glance and a products are “Non-toxic”, “Made with organic ingredients”, “contains essential oils”, “paraben free”. While these are all good things, a lot of times the company will label the container with these words, but the ingredient list is also full of other things. For example… “contains essential oils”- Yes the product contains 1 essential oil in it, but also contains fragrance. So while it may appear the only scent in it is from essential oils, the ingredient list shows differently.

And why would a company do it?! (Ding ding ding) MONEY!!

It’s a lot cheaper to spend “a little” money on the advertising and marketing that makes a product look and sound “clean”, “green”, and “eco-friendly, than to actually invest in changing their practices and ingredients to safer methods. And, since there is no regulation in the US, they are free to do this.

Side note: ingredient disclosure is important… does the company/website give the full ingredient list or do they make it hard to find, potentially even needing to email to get the ingredients used. They may list the “Beneficial or Active” ingredients (which are good), but fail to share the full ingredient list. This is shady and obviously shows they aren’t proud of the full ingredient list.

Here are some key words to look for, and, if you see these, just let it trigger you to look a bit deeper into the product to make sure it’s actually clean:

• Botanical
• Bio
• Chemical Free
• Dermatologist Recommended
• Earth Friendly
• Eco
• Gentle
• Green
• Natural
• Non-Comedogenic
• Paraben-Free
• Sulfate-Free
• Sensitive
• Hypoallergenic

If you are ever curious about a certain brand or product, I am here to help you out! Just send me an email and I am happy to look… I am never about brand shaming, rather educating!