Are you having energy issues, health issues, or gut issues? Can’t seem to stay on your game? Is your stamina tested around certain people or situations?
You cannot maintain your energetic sovereignty when you are continually exposed to environmental pollutants. Period.
We are going to start with your environment to straighten out your energy. This is step 1, but why not give yourself a leg up in aligning with your optimal energy states, eh?
Understanding endocrine disruptors is a first line to balancing your endocrine system, hormone functions and opening your energy channels.
Your endocrine system is an information superhighway that regulates your bodily functions. It releases hormones “messengers” through that glandular system to stimulate and regulate everything your body does to keep you alive.
What are endocrine disruptors?
Endocrine disruptors and man-made chemicals that alter, mimic or block hormone production or the system that carries them. You can call these external stressors while your internal stressors that affect the system are rooted in negative emotions, fear, trauma, and stress.
Where can endocrine disruptors be found?
You will be surprised at how common they are and that you are exposed to them every day. They are in:
- common household cleaners
- yard, garden, and farm chemicals
- personal care products
- preservatives
- artificial and “natural” flavors in processed food products
- parfum, “natural” fragrance, or anything “unscented”
- pertrochemicals
According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, some of the proven endocrine disruptors include Dioxin, PCBs, DDT, and other pesticides.
More common in your internal and home environment:
- Bisphenol – BP-A, BP-S in plastics and in the lining of canned goods.
- Triclosan – “anti-bacterial” products that interfere with thyroid hormones.
- Phthalates (DBT, DEHP) – hair care products, lotions, some plastic food containers, vinyl.
- Perfluorinated Chemicals – Teflon, Gore-Tex, PFOS, PFOA, as well as anything “stain-resistant”, make-up, nail polish and (surprise) dental floss.
- Parabens – butyl-, methyl-, ethyl-, and propyl-parabens act as synthetic estrogen.
- Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (SLS) – a foaming agent in personal care and cleaning products.
- Fluoride – blocks proper absorption of iodine by the thyroid gland as well as affects the Pituitary, Pineal, Parathyroid, and Pancreas. It causes dental and skeletal fluorosis and low IQs.
These are some of the major culprits and by no means is this a complete list. There are over 80,000 chemicals and pesticides on the market in the US that have never been tested for safety and they are in everything from food packaging to your clothes, your furniture, carpets, and cabinetry.
Why should you care?
These chemicals are in the air you breathe and many water supplies in the US. They affect everything in the food chain from plants, fish, birds and the mammals that eat them (that means you).
Even with the EPA in place, there isn’t proper testing done on chemicals to determine toxicity or the effects on the population. The government takes the stance of GRAS, Generally Recognized As Safe…until proven otherwise.
The general population doesn’t have the resources to prove these chemicals are safe and the government feels its a burden that is too much for industry to bear.
What can you do?
Start by getting rid of the plastics in your life and cleaning up your personal care products (including sunscreen) by replacing them with ones that don’t have parabens or SLS.
Don’t buy anything stain-resistant or Teflon.
Buy fresh or frozen instead of canned. There are a few companies that don’t use BP-A lined cans such as Muir Glen in the US.
If it smells like plastic or vinyl it is off-gassing and your body is absorbing that through your skin (your largest organ) and your lungs.
Don’t purchase or use anything anti-bacterial which are in most personal care products to protect us from germs and microbes.
Watch out it is in toothpaste now as well. Plain old-fashioned non-detergent soap is good enough to fight most germs.Use bamboo cutting boards instead of plastic. They are naturally anti-microbial.
Use fluoride-free dental products and water that you drink, cook with and bathe in.
Start swapping out your cleaning and laundry supplies for soaps instead of detergents.
Don’t try to attack this all at once. As you can afford, start replacing things that you use or that you are in contact with the most. And, start reading labels!
Further reading: Cleaning Supplies and Your Health
References:
Environmental Working Group, Natural Resources Defense Council, Colby College, David Suzuki Foundation, PAN Pesticide Database, Fluoride Action Network.