Detox Your Bathroom for Health – Why and How

Why detox your bathroom?

Let’s talk about what you might normally do, and what we can do to solve the problem and keep you healthy. If you shave, man or woman, you probably start by putting some hot water on your skin to soften the whiskers, then apply shaving cream. The shaving cream lathers up and we think that it is a good thing. However the shaving cream is loaded with toxic chemicals. One of the very bad chemicals in most shaving creams is sodium lauryl sulfate. This is also found in most soap and helps to make creams and soaps foam up. It can cause skin irritation, dry skin, and can cause vision problems if it gets in the eyes or is absorbed into the skin. If you use hot water when shaving, the hot water will open up the pores of your skin and give the chemicals an open route into your body. Sodium lauryl sulfate exposure can also lead to headache, difficulty breathing, and hair loss. If you cut yourself shaving, the chemicals have a clear path directly into your blood system.

Unless you have a filter on your water system, your morning shower will expose you to a myriad of chemicals, including chlorine. The steam from your shower opens up your pores and allows access to the body as well as dilating your lungs. Chlorine is used in swimming pools to kill bacteria. Our bodies have about 100% more bacterial cells than human cells. Bacteria helps us digest our food, helps protect our skin from outside invaders, and help in our immune system function, as well as many other functions. By exposing ourselves to chlorine, many good bacteria are destroyed and the adverse effects on our health can be far reaching. Women using tampons or pads are also exposing themselves to chlorine. These products are usually bleached and bleach contains chlorine.

After your shave and shower, you proceed to brush your teeth. If you ever took the time to read the side of a commercial tube of toothpaste, you will see a warning, something to the effect “Warning, harmful if more than amount used to normally brush teeth is swallowed. If swallowed, call poison control”. There are chemicals in toothpaste that are harmful if swallowed, specifically fluoride which can cause nerve damage and tooth damage, sodium lauryl sulfate, dyes and sweeteners. The type of fluoride used in toothpaste, sodium fluoride, is in the same group of poisons as arsenic and cyanide. It can affect the brain function and I have seen children, when they stop using fluorinated toothpastes, be able to focus better in school. It has also been linked to bone and oral cancers. If that isn’t bad enough, a slick marketing ploy is to not use sweeteners, but use artificial sweeteners such as aspartame or saccharine. The FDA has 92 potential side effects listed from aspartame ingestion, the number one side effect is headaches and one of the side effects…no kidding…is death! Saccharine used to have printed on its label a warning that this produce has been linked to cancer in animals. If a product states right on it’s label that it has been linked to cancer, believe it.

So get to it and detox your bathroom to maintain good health!

You now put on your antiperspirant, which contains aluminum. Research has shown there may be a link between aluminum build up in the brain and Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions. Aluminum clogs up our pores and prevents us from sweating. Sweating is one of the ways our body rids itself of toxins. The fragrance in antiperspirants can cause allergic reactions, as well as irritating your skin.

So, what can we do? The good news is that there are alternative products that work just as well, if not better and they are safe. Safe products are available at most health food stores or online. The non toxic shave creams may not foam up as well as commercial shave creams, but do a better job at removing whiskers without drying out your skin. You can also use castile soap, not only to clean your body, but as a shave cream. Castile soap is made with plant oils and removes most dirt as well as commercial soap. It is so safe, you can even eat it. I would not recommend this, I tasted it once and it is not very tasty. If it is going to be absorbed into you skin, you want to make sure it will not make you sick if you eat it, either way it gets into your body and once it gets in it should not do damage. There are several toothpastes that do not have fluoride, artificial sweeteners or sodium lauryl sulfate. Use deodorant instead of antiperspirant. Deodorants do not contain aluminum. You might have to try a few different brands to find one that works for you, but it is worth it to protect your health. Feminine hygiene products can be purchased that are not treated with bleach. A water filter can be attached to your shower head to filter out chlorine, but a better choice would be to get a whole house water filter, this way all the water you drink, bathe in, wash clothes in and clean your fruits and veggies in is safe. Laundry soaps and dish washing soaps that contain no toxic chemicals can also be purchased. They work very well, are usually hypoallergenic and are just as easy to use as their commercial counterparts. Many times I have seen patients that have unexplained rashes, allergies and fatigue respond very well when they discontinue commercial laundry soaps and switch to a more natural soap.

By making some simple changes in your usual personal hygiene products you might be preventing health problems not only now but in the future. Give some thought to a whole home detox!

Please call my office at 770-427-7387 or you can send us a message in the live chat.