Share & Voice: Worry about more than just your water bottles

In my previous share & voice I talked about Sharon Szukis, a herbalist, coming to talk to our class about supplements.  There is something else she talked about that I was completely unaware of that is really significant information, especially for women.  We talked about cosmetics.

The first thing you need to know is that everything you put on your skin, ends up being absorbed into your bloodstream.  This is in part because the skin receives 1/3 of the blood circulation throughout the body.  This is important information because I'd say most women use numerous products on their skin daily.  This includes things like lotion, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, shaving cream, face wash, lip balm, and concealers.  So what's in all those products you have to watch you for?  Paraben and Propylene glycol are both used as chemical preservatives and stabilizers and they are also products of petroleum.  The funny thing about petroleum is that when it enters a human body it mimics estrogen.  They are called xenoestrogen (xeno is a Greek prefix meaning foreign or strange).  In our culture today men and women already have way to much estrogen in their systems coming from animal products, breathing in car exhaust, the water we drink, and plastics leeching chemicals.  These xenoestrogens are the same thing we worry about with plastic water bottles and yet no one is telling us, "Stop putting on lotion."  Estrogen caused cancers (such as breast, colon, and prostate cancer) are at epidemic proportions in the U.S. and no doubt the rate will continue to rise.  Estrogen in men can also lower their sperm count which could account in part for why so many couples have trouble conceiving these days.  Although it was mostly in jest, Sharon said, "In the 70s, that was unheard of! Everybody was getting pregnant their first try!"

So of course when I got home from Sharon's talk I went through a bunch of my cosmetics and toiletries.  Sure enough I found Propylene glycol in almost all of them and at least 1 or 2 others in a list of synthetics to avoid she had handed out in class. Sharon mentioned that companies make products that don't include these harmful synthetics, but it's just more expensive.  She acknowledged that being college students on a budget we can't afford to throw out our whole stash of stuff to buy new, safer products.  She suggested instead to maybe choose one product that you use the most, or over the most surface area on your body, and when that one is gone spend the extra 2 or 3 bucks on an all natural product.

A few other things to think about that leech chemicals that you may be ingesting:

• cooking pans - if your pans have a Teflon coating (or any other kind of coating) and it gets scratched and you continue to use it, you're ingesting that. Don't put these pans in the dishwasher!
  
• Cooking at higher temperatures can leech toxins into your food.  Never cook on high!
• Never use plastic wrap to cover your food in the microwave. Invest in some wax paper!
• Just putting plastic containers in the microwave in general is bad.  It's just the same (if not worse) than leaving a plastic water bottle out in the sun and then drinking out of it. Use ceramic or glass in the microwave whenever possible!

 

Share & Voice: My Women's Health Issues class

We had an extremely interesting class period tonight for Women's Health Issues (an excellent class, everyone should take it!).  An herbal and supplement specialist and owner of "The Essence of Health" named Sharon Szukis came in and talked to our class.  I'm going to highlight all the most important/interesting things I learned. 

First off, something that might not be that well known is that the FDA doesn't really supervise herbal and supplement manufacturers.  There aren't really standards or guidelines for what they're throwing into their products.  This means we have to be really conscious, smart, consumers.  Fortunately, the majority of the larger, reputable supplement makers came to gather to make their own rules and regulations.  Basically they police themselves and hold themselves very accountable to high standards.  If you want to make sure you are getting supplements from these reputable supplement makers make sure somewhere on the bottle it's labeled "GMP" which stands for Good Manufacturing Procedure".  If it says GMP you know that the labels are accurate and you can trust the list of ingredients to be correct.  Now on herbal products you should look for something that says "Standardized" which will also guarantee you quality and safety.  Sharon also suggested that if you're looking for something particular like Vitamin C it's okay to go to Target or Walmart, or a grocery store; however, if you aren't sure exactly what you're looking for you should definitely go to specialty store because that's where the specialist are who can help you safely find what you're looking for.  She used the example of a person on blood thinners who might not realize that some herbal products thin your blood.  This could be a dangerous combination, but a combination that would likely be avoided by going to people who know, and do this for a living.  Also in line with being a smart consumer you should be weary of supplement and herbal products that come from China because China's manufacturing is known as being ahead of their policing.  Not always safe!

Sharon also told us that only around 5% of the population get the very basic vitamins that the body need.  That means 95% of us aren't even getting the basic, bare minimum of vitamins.  In light of this, she said that if she could suggest 3 supplements for women to take it would be a good multi-vitamin, calcium, and vitamin D.  Calcium is especially important  for those who drink soft drinks or any carbonated drinks because the carbonation is done with the use of phosphorus which basically eats away the bones.  On top of that caffeine interferes with calcium absorption.  I, myself have a bit of a soft drink problem so after hearing Sharon talk I'm already working on cutting down.  Vitamin D is also extra important for those of us way up north here (males and females)!  Vitamin D is intrinsically tied to our immune system and a deficiency in this vitamin is DIRECTLY linked to colon cancer, breast cancer, and prostate cancer.  Just some really interesting things to look in to! 

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3: Weekly Update

My SMART goal is to use reusable bags 100% of the time I shop.  I only slipped one time.  I don't exactly have a percent success rate, but I'd just say fairly well.

The only time I failed was because I was out of town and did not have my own car.  I also did not think to take one of my reusable bags with me; however, I did remember to ask them for paper so I can feel a little better about that :)  I also forgot a bag at the grocery store when I was just picking up a few items, but thanks to my overly gigantic purse I was able to avoid a bag once again! Success!  Purses are also quite reusable, haha!

I learned this week to be more assertive when people are trying to bag your stuff.  I know it sounds like a funny lesson learned, but why shouldn't you say, "I don't need a bag, thanks".  I've also been just getting used to the idea of bringing my own bag with me when I shop, or using my purse. Being more mindful was part of my plan from last week and I feel as though I've really worked on that.

I really have nothing to change.  I feel like I'm doing a good job and I feel like the more I work on this SMART goal the more it will just become second nature.  I will keep working on the mindfulness thing!

Blogged for the Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 3 hosted by Amy@Eco-Chic with Amy.