My top 5 strategies to reduce your chemical exposure that can lead to weight gain and other health issues
So, how many chemicals have you been exposed to today? Most of us don’t realise that we are bombarded daily with various chemicals, some of which over time have a very detrimental impact on our bodies.
Today I want to focus on one group of such chemicals, the so-called endocrine disruptors.
If you drank water from a plastic bottle, stored or even worse reheated your food in a plastic container, took shower and washed your hair and then picked up a recipe after paying a bill at the grocery store – I am sorry to tell you but you have been most likely exposed to endocrine disruptors.
The aim of this post is not to scare you and become paranoid but rather to take informed decisions when shopping for food and everyday household goods and care products, so that you can minimise your exposure. Minimise is the key word here as eliminating your exposure completely is probably close to impossible.
So, what are endocrine disruptors and why they are bad for you?
Endocrine disruptors and especially one of its sub-categories, the so-called xenoestrogens, are chemicals that mimic estrogen – one of the key sex hormones in women, but also in men.
While our body naturally produces and utilises estrogen, it also has an intricate system to make sure the excess estrogen is processed and eventually eliminated. In contrast, xenoestrogens cannot be metabolised by our body and end up being stored as toxins where most of our toxins are being stored – in the fat cells.
If there is too much estrogen in our body, it would disrupt the hormonal balance and lead to a so-called estrogen dominance.
While estrogen is absolutely necessary for the body to function and as a side effect gives you plump skin and healthy bones, the excess estrogen can wreck havoc on your body.
Estrogen dominance is one of the leading factors behind a myriad of health issues, including: breast, prostate and testicular cancer, obesity, infertility, and diabetes. As you can see from this long but incomplete list, estrogen dominance has a direct effect not only on the reproductive health but also on the gut health. In women, it can lead to conditions like PCOS and infertility. Estrogen dominance can also worsen the symptoms of irritable gut syndrome (or IBS).
How can you tell whether you suffer from estrogen dominance?
Common symptoms include irregular or heavy periods, acne, breast swelling and tenderness, weight gain, mood swings, hair loss, and the lovely ‘man boobs’ in men.
There is a particularly strong link between estrogen dominance and the weight gain. On the one hand, endocrine disruptors signal to our body to make more fat cells. This, on the other hand, further affects the hormonal balance and disrupts the production of ghrelin (the hormone responsible for hunger signals) and leptin (the hormone behind satiety). As you can see, this chain reaction can easily lead to a double whammy as regards the weight gain.
Now that I got your attention, let me give you my 5 top strategies to minimise your exposure to endocrine disruptors in everyday life.
Ditch plastic water bottles. Apart from environmental issues (single use plastics, etc.), drinking from plastic bottle can be over time bad for your health. It is best to use glass or stainless steel bottles to carry around with you to make sure to stay hydrated. If using the refillable plastic bottle, make sure it is BPA free. By all means, avoid drinking from a plastic bottle that has been exposed to sun and heat, as in these conditions, chemicals leach at accelerated rate to your water.
Replace plastic food containers with glass or stainless steel. This again has to do with the so-called BPAs, which apart from plastic bottles and other containers are also commonly found in canned foods and receipts. As with plastic water bottles, as much as possible store your food in glass or stainless steel containers and avoid the use of plastic wrap to cover food for storing or microwaving. Above all, do not microwave food in plastic containers.
Choose organic produce, meat, dairy and sustainably caught wild fish. Estrogen disrupting chemicals are difficult to avoid as they lurk in the soil and water and to a large extent are present in the feed for the animals. Animals, like humans, store the toxins in their fatty cells and for that reason it is best to buy organic meat and dairy. Opting out for organic produce further reduces your exposure to various pesticides commonly used in conventional agriculture.
Do your research and choose wisely personal care and cleaning products. To start with, read labels and avoid phthalates, parabenes and “fragrance”. As a general rule of thumb, if you see “fragrance” listed as one of the ingredients, stay away. As this is part of proprietary information, many chemicals that producers don’t want to reveal hide behind “fragrance”. When we use these personal care products we can inhale the toxins as well as absorb them through our skin (the largest organ that connects to the inside of our body). When you shop for cosmetics, you can use a free App called ‘Yuka’, which ranks products according to the types of chemicals they contain and gives you recommendations for ‘cleaner’ alternatives. All you need to do is to download the App and scan the barcode on the product you are considering to purchase.
Filter your drinking water. As mentioned earlier endocrine disruptors are present in our water supply. There are several filtering options on the market that you can use to filter these and other chemicals in water. You would be also well advised to install a shower filter as bodies can also absorb these chemicals via skin.
This is a big topic that one can further develop in different directions. In the future, I plan to also discuss some tips on how to clean up your beauty routine. Let me know in the comments or on my social media accounts (FB, Instagram) if you have any questions and/or would like me to cover some topic in more detail.
If some of the conditions mentioned in this post ring a bell, get in touch and schedule a free consultation with me where we discuss your particular health concerns.
Hello! I am Magda and I work with people that are ready to transform their health and wellbeing. What are your health goals that you have not been able to reach? Read more about me and my services.
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