Ingredients in our personal care products is much like getting my son to try a new vegetable. You know it’s good for you but you fear the taste, texture or some element of it will not be to your liking.
Does it really matter? The ingredients in things that we use so commonly every day. The packaging of them, shape, color, scent and style of it. I mean it is just toothpaste or deodorant and who has time to worry of such trivial things anyway. We just want clean teeth and not to stink right?
Well in all honesty it does matter and for several reasons.
Manufacturers want to make something as cheap as possible to increase the profit from that product
Ingredients that give a longer shelf life can be very dangerous to our health
When we use plastic filled items, we also absorb the plastic in our body so we’re not just creating environment waste but toxic waste in both the environment and ourselves
Blocking sweat is one of the best ways to impact the health of your glands which in turn impacts your lymph
Ingesting chemicals through oral use creates cellular damage to our digestive system lining and in turn impacts our cellular ability to absorb nutrients
The ingredients in question when it comes toxic personal care products and why
Toothpaste. Seemingly innocent tubes of paste meant to clean and protect our pearly whites. Well, most off the shelf toothpaste has way more than we need in the quest for whiter, brighter, and healthy teeth and gums. It is not just our toothpaste that is a victim to these situations either but our mouthwash and even dental floss! Here are 5 of the most common ingredients you will find:
Alcohol – used because of antibacterial properties but it kills all the bacteria… good and bad. We need the good bacteria to help with digestive enzyme production that helps break down food when eating. It is also very drying to the mouth that further inhibits healthy enzyme production and may contribute to thrush, split and cracked lips and gum disease.
Artificial coloring and flavoring – if there were 2 ingredients no food or personal care items needs it would be these two. Titanium dioxide is used commonly in kids toothpastes to make it more visually appealing. It has been linked to ADHD and have been scientifically proven to cause overactivity, inattention and impulsiveness.
Aspartame – known as a carcinogen that is lined to cancer. When broken down in the body, it converts to formaldehyde that can cause headaches, memory loss, gastrointestinal issues. Formaldehyde is a poison.
Fluoride – long debated as a good thing for protecting teeth especially in children. Fluoride is actually a poison that causes headaches, nausea, and digestive problems. Public water already contains more fluoride than we need daily so adding it to our toothpaste is further poisoning us instead of helping.
SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) – you may recognize this from your gardening bench. It is in fat a popular insecticide ingredient. Also used widely in detergents and soaps this is the equivalent of applying insect killer to your mouth and body every day. It is the ingredient that makes toothpaste foam.
There are several other ingredients but these 5 in my mind are the ones that do the most damage to our health and that of our children. None of these ingredients are necessary when it comes to cleaning your teeth or helping prevent gum disease.
Now let’s talk about deodorant. I get it you don’t want to sweat through your expensive blouse and smell bad. Nor do I but given what is in bulk of major brand deodorants sold I’m not sure it’s worth my health. There are ways to control sweating too that still support healthy skin and gland function without the necessity to plug off the all important armpit area of your body.
Ingredients we need to be aware of and avoid include these:
Aluminum – plugs the sweat glands and prevents them from surfacing into the pores. Promotes cell genomic instability though which means it promotes cell maturation which can lead to tumor growth. It also impacts your kidney function because they cannot filter out the aluminum that is absorbed into your body from your deodorant
Tricolosan – kills germs that cause body odor supposedly. It however interrupts the endocrine system by interfering with hormone signals. It also has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. So if you have hormone imbalances this is one ingredient to check for you in your personal care products. It can also be found in hand soaps.
Diethanolamine (DEA) – linked to cancer. To make DEA, the product undergoes a process to release a byproduct called dioxane which is a known carcinogen.
Artificial Fragrances – just like artificial anything it means it is laboratory made from chemicals. Because these formulas can be proprietary you often have no idea what is in them to know the impact to your health.
So the bottom line is, yes ingredients matter. The every day common items we use need to be things that help us do what we need while honoring our body and health.
But does natural deodorant and toothpaste work?
I have tried a lot of natural products in my own home to see what we liked better and gave good results. The surprising thing is most natural products do not cost more than regular stuff and the results are fantastic.
To level set about deodorant, you were meant to sweat. That is your body’s way of eliminating waste and cooling. I get that sometimes that can be too much and not in the right situations. What I found from my own experience is a lot of times when I was over sweating I was actually experiencing other things that were causing it like hormone imbalance, menopause symptoms and even illness. Understanding why you are sweating is key to getting to the root cause of controlling how much you sweat and supporting solutions that work. Once these symptoms are addressed you can comfortably wear natural deodorant confidently without worrying about going through every blouse and shirt you put on.
From my own family’s experience and my opinion we found the best results with these products:
doTERRA OnGuard Toothpaste
Burt’s Bees Kid’s Toothpaste
Peach Refillable Deodorant
doTERRA OnGuard Mouthwash
Fresh Monster Kids Body Wash & Shampoo
Fresh Monster Deodorant for Kids & Teens
Reducing chemicals in the products we use every day makes good sense and empowers us to improve health with simple swaps. These changes are not only good for us but they help improve the environment by reducing waste. Very few good natural products use plastic containers and strive to find packaging that is eco-friendly.
For help finding products that are right for you or natural health care support, book a consultation with me at dragonspitapothecary.com