Parabens: Cumulative Drip, Drip, Drip

Good Day Everyone,

In keeping with the purpose of this blog, to give you the facts and let YOU decide, I've been digging on the subject of parabens, which is being much debated in the skin care and cosmetic corners.

I am including the link to the USDA and it's official statement on parabens. see link (http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/cos-para.html). To sum up what they say: parabens are readily identifiable on any label and usually used in multiples. They are legal, and as far as the FDA says, they do not pose any health risk.

However, having said that, they do allow that parabens have been found in tumor tissue. YIKES!

Parabens are of the "ester" complex, as in estrogen. They are a xenohormone. English please, a phony hormone. The body does not know how to process them. To my mind, they're sort of like that phony fat, olestra, the body passes it on out the system - or so they say. At any rate, the body does not pass parabens out, but rather stuffs them aside in reproductive tissues. Kind of like when you and I are sorting papers on our desk and come across something we'll deal with later....Well, I don't know about you, but that "I'll - deal-with-it-later" pile of mind get huge. Because I never seem to deal with it, because I don't know what to do with it. If I did, I would have right then and there.

So imagine your body piling up xenohormones, which by the way, come in many, many products. For example, xenohormones lie dormant in your plastic water bottles. When the bottles heat up, like sitting in your car, they are passed into the water and you consume them. It is xenohormones that are passed into your food when you microwave in plastic. They are in countless products that we come in contact with daily.

So, the FDA says that in small amounts, as they are used in the cosmetics industry, that they are not harmful. But consider this, the drip, drip, drip and cumulative effect that all these different sources have to a body on a daily basis. You see if it were just the cosmetics, well perhaps. But also consider this. It is in your body lotion, it is in your eye cream, it is in your shave cream, it is in your shampoo, drip, drip, drip....

I'm coming to think in this way about the synthetic chemicals in our lives. They are in just about everything, our food, our drinks, our water, our lotions and potions, out soda pop, our clothes....drip, drip, drip. So my thinking is, if you can eliminate any of these synthetics from any place in your experience and either maintain the same standard of performance or improve, why wouldn't you?

For example, I love, truly love, lovely wine. I know I am getting chemicals when I enjoy a lovely bottle of wine. I choose to accept that, for now. There are few really good red wines out there that are organic and nitrate free. Perhaps that's coming, to be sure. But in that arena I choose ok. But I don't have to accept it where something better performing is being offered.

For example, this morning I ordered Swiss water processed organic decaf coffee. It's available, it's great coffee, why wouldn't I? Especially since it's something I consume DAILY.

So, think about all the places you are consuming in one form or another, the synthetics. How are you washing your clothes? What's in that dryer sachet? [ I think the smell alone would put everyone off, it did me.] What are you washing your dishes in? What's your food been grown in? What was fed to the cows, pigs, chicken or fish that you're consuming? Drip, drip, drip.

Be mindful. Pay attention. I think when you begin to notice, you'll begin to see how much one person gets in a day. And when you see that, you'll want to take the steps to eliminate synthetic chemicals whenever and wherever you can. The body is a wonderfully resilient machine. But I feel sure that there is no coincidence in the number of "immune" dis-eases and the huge amounts of synthetic chemicals we are exposed to and ingest by the drip, drip, drip system.

I don't advocate becoming paranoid and angry about it. I simply want you to become aware, and make the Pure, Safe, and Beneficial choices whenever you can. Common Sense. We all have it, let's use it.

Thanks for reading!

Kath