Wellness Wednesday: Nasty Ingredients I Don't Like

A huge interest of mine is health. I find it endlessly fascinating. It may be interesting to note, however, that I am freaked out by most things medical. Doctors, hospitals, sterile rooms, drugs, chemicals and the like. So my health interests range in the spectrum of what can be done natural, what God has given us on this earth, and the responsibility He gives us of doing what is right for our bodies (being a wise-steward of God's blessings). Eating right and exercising, should be no-brainers (that I will most likely expand upon), so I'm hoping to have regular posts on Wednesday's to share some other insights in the world of natural health.

Part of what I hope for these posts, is that it will serve as education to those that do not know some information I find important, essential or interesting. A lot of the natural medicines and herbal remedies that I partake in can be rooted back to when I found out some shocking information about some of the ingredients found in so many common products that we use. Shampoo, deodorant, hand soap, mouthwash, lotion, toothpaste....to name a few.

The list of ingredients can be found here. Unfortunately, I've found more that I'm hoping to avoid, but for today, we'll start with these. To start with a popular one, we'll address Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) and Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES). SLS and SLES can be found in pretty much anything that foams: hand soap, face wash, shampoo, toothpaste almost always have one of these. I first came across this ingredient when trying to help my husband cure his dry scalp/dandruff. My first inclination as a person who never has a dry scalp was, 'well, does that Head & Shoulders stuff work?'. Caleb said he had tried it a long time ago and it seemed to only irritate his skin. I wondered why that was, so I hopped online and found out that the first ingredient after water in H&S was SLS. That made me wonder what this SLS stuff was....only to find out that it is known to irritate the skin, among other things:

"In tests, animals that were exposed to SLS experienced -eye damage, along with depression, labored breathing, diarrhea, severe skin irritation and corrosion and death."

We may be bigger and tougher than lab-rats, but we are not invincible. What severely damages them, slowly but surely damages us. Of course, they don't do these tests on humans, so there is no warning that it may do any of this to us.

"Other research has indicated SLS may be damaging to the immune system, especially within the skin. Skin layers may separate and inflame due to its protein denaturing properties. It is possibly the most dangerous of all ingredients in personal care products. Research has shown that SLS when combined with other chemicals can be transformed into nitrosamines, a potent class of carcinogens, which cause the body to absorb nitrates at higher levels than eating nitrate-contaminated food. According to the American College of Toxicity report, SLS stays in the body for up to five days."

Solutions: By looking online for natural remedies, we cured Caleb's dry scalp. Eventually we have been able to replace all of our products containing SLS and SLES. Here are a few that we use:

- Face Wash. This is the best stuff out there. A little goes a long way so it lasts forever and it leaves my skin feeling amazing.

- Shampoo. I think that this shampoo works really well. I like the smell of it as well. We don't really use conditioner, but their conditioner is also a top product.

- Hand/Body Soap. This stuff is really great for cleaning anything. Of course....Dr. Bronner was a bit of a nut.

- Toothpaste. We have tried PowerSmile and SeaFresh and liked them both. I've experimented with other brands and am really open to trying different methods (key ingredients), so long as it doesn't have SLS.

I'm not going to go through all ten of the ingredients, but I urge you to read the list and consider it. I will mention a second ingredient, however, and that is Propylene Glycol (PG). This is found in about 99% of deodorants. There is already an on-going debate of whether or not antiperspirants, which contain Aluminum Zirconium, could lead to breast cancer or Alzheimer's. My thought is this: God gave us pores to sweat through. That is how our skin works. What is so inconvenient about sweat anyway? Aluminum blocks these pores, which in turn prevents natural flow of sweat, oils, toxins and bacteria. The build-up makes you stink, so you are stuck using more antiperspirant.

Okay, so I've kicked antiperspirants out of my life. Back to PG. PG, the active component in antifreeze, is found in deodorants to serve as a "wetting agent". Basically it makes the stick slick and easy to glide on your pits.

"There is no difference between the PG used in industry and the PG used in personal care products. It is used in industry to break down protein and cellular structure (what the skin is made of) yet is found in most forms of make-up, hair products, lotions, after-shave, deodorants, mouthwashes and toothpaste. It is also used in food processing. Because of its ability to quickly penetrate the skin, the EPA requires workers to wear protective gloves, clothing and goggles when working with this toxic substance. The Material Safety Data Sheets warn against skin contact, as PG has systemic consequences such as brain, liver and kidney abnormalities. Consumers are not protected nor is there a warning label on products such as stick deodorants, where the concentration is greater than that in most industrial applications."

Eek. And eww. I don't want that on me. It was hard finding a deodorant with out, but I finally found one. I started using this one in their Patchuli/Mandarin scent (which I don't know that they are making any more). I just picked up another scent the other day as mine was running low. The deodorant works fairly well, but can fade on a hot day or if you are doing a lot of work that makes you sweat. After the transition away from PG I noticed I began smelling less and less....I think the PG messes with your system in that way as well. Now I hardly smell at all. On days I know I'll be extra active, I simply powder my armpits with some baking soda before applying my deodorant. It works great!

Well that is the first (lengthy) installment of Wellness Wednesday. I hope it was educational. Hope you have a beautiful, healthy day and remember to check ingredient labels! You may be pleasantly surprised or horrified (I have found PG in deli meat!). Cheers!