Parabens…what are they, understanding them and the negative effects they have on our over all health!
Parabens are chemical preservatives found in almost ALL personal care products. Please note, whatever you put on your skin or scalp gets absorbed into our Healthy Body’s blood stream and the liver then has to work double over time to try to help detoxify our systems!
Parabens are harmful chemicals that directly disrupt our endocrine (hormonal) systems. The endocrine system is made up of:
- •All glands located throughout the Healthy Body.
- •Hormones that are made by the glands and released into the bloodstream or the fluid surrounding cells.
- •Receptors in various organs and tissues that recognize and respond to the hormones.
The endocrine system literally regulates ALL biological processes in the Healthy Body from right when we are conceived, on through adulthood and straight into old age. This includes the development of the brain and nervous system, growth and function of our reproductive system, as well as the metabolism and blood sugar levels. The female ovaries, male testes, pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands are all major constituents of the endocrine system.
Most people think of hormones as simply having to do with our reproductive systems, however they also play a huge part in managing all of the other systems of our bodies. They control the rate of certain chemical reactions, assist in transporting substances through membranes, help regulate how we retain water, our electrolyte balance, blood pressure, etc. They manage everything including development, growth, reproduction, and even behaviour.
They tell our bodies what to do and when so it runs smoothly and efficiently. Basically, when it comes down to it, the balance of our hormones determine our over all health and longevity.
So you can see now how truly important it is to our health it is to keep that system well functioning and healthy! Once our endocrine system is out of balance, a whole host of ill health effects can take place.
In infants and children, these harmful chemicals can cause developmental disorders, dysfunction of the immune system, learning problems as well as reproductive disorders. In adults, the list of ill health issues gleaned from parabens is too vast to list.
In sunscreens, although we feel we are helping to protect ourselves from the harmful effects of the sun, the parabens commercial sunscreens are laden with actually cause our skin and our bodies much more harm than the sun. Among other things going on internally, they accelerate the skins aging and dying process and can increase sensitivity and damage from the sun. The skins cells die at a much faster rate this way.
Parabens can actually mimic estrogen and increase the rate at which women develop estrogen-positive breast tumors (that when tested show high levels of parabens).
In addition to estrogen-like effects on women, they’ve also been associated with interference to the male reproductive systems, resulting in low testosterone levels and sperm counts.
All of that is to name only a few issues…the list is very long.
Here is a list of harmful chemicals in most commercial hygiene products on the market today. If you see one of these on the label, don’t use the product!
- –BHA & BHT
- –DEA-related ingredients
- –Parabens
- –Fragrance
- –Petrolatum
- –Sodium laureth sulfate
- –Propylene Glycol
- –Some bad sunscreen ones > Bensophenone, PABA, avobenzone, homosalate and ethoxycinnmate (among others)
So how do we avoid parabens?
Luckily now a days there are a wide variety of products available on the shelves that are Paraben Free. I strongly urge everyone to first try making your own product (it’s not difficult at all and is much cheaper than store bought products, leaving you with a larger quantity) and if that is not desirable then please shop for only paraben free personal care products!
