In today's modern everyday society, we focus on personal hygiene and beauty - at least most people do. And although this is not a bad thing (no thank you to stinky B.O. on the subway), we also need to be aware of the many toxins that are lurking in most everyday personal products. It's a fact that most of us are exposed to dozens of chemicals before we even leave our homes in the morning, simply by our morning routines.
Why does this matter? Well, simply put - it's because the body has to detoxify all of these chemicals in order to function, and doing so can often leave our bodies taxed and exhausted, before we even start out day! It's not just a matter of taking the toxin in and peeing it out. No, our bodies go through complex detoxification systems in order to get rid of toxins, and these systems need lots of nutrients and antioxidants to function. It's a complex process, and it takes WORK. Whatever our body can't get rid of, it stores. And guess what stored toxins in the body do? ALL KINDS OF DAMAGE ON THE INSIDE, much of which you don't even realize (until it shows up later in some downstream effects like your immune system's inability to fight off simple colds, or the inflammation in your lungs that's causing that incessant cough or all those allergies).
Our skin is a giant organ, and what we put on it is directly absorbed into us. What we eat is important (yes, I talk about this all the time), but at least with our gut and our digestive processes, our immune system has a chance to respond. With our skin, it's different. Our bodies weren't built to fight off dozens of toxins that we lather onto our skin directly. Our immune defenses aren't as strong when it comes to what we put directly onto our skin and much of these chemicals get absorbed and go into our circulation -- they have a chance to affect the system and the body before any type of defense really has a chance to see if what you are applying is friend or foe (we do have some natural skin oils that can impair absorption a little, but this is minimal compared to what we can do with our immune system in our gut).
So what can we do about it? We can smarten up. We can become better consumers. We can choose with our dollars. We can buy products that are cleaner for us, that don't harm us, that don't have a store of daily assaults in each bottle. One easy way to do this is to go to the EWG's resources online and check out what you have in your cabinet. See how toxic it really is. And then choose options that are listed there as being EWG certified or safer than what you currently have. Their skincare website is https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ . There, you can type in all your personal care skin/makeup/beauty products to see where you stand. They list hundreds of alternative products in each category, and even give you options of where to buy them (many online and on amazon- so it doesn't have to be hard)! EWG also has a guide regarding cleaning products -- household cleaners are another HUGE area of toxicity that we expose ourselves to daily. The link to that guide is: https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners.
Take the time and do your research. Then once you know better, choose better. You can do better to protect yourself and your family. It doesn't have to mean sacrificing your personal hygiene or beauty - there are hundreds of products that are just better because they are cleaner. You just have to choose better.
For more tips and how we made some simple product switches in our household, check out my latest video on instagram (@payalarorawellness) or click here.