To Your Health
February, 2021 (Vol. 15, Issue 02) |
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Are Personal-Care Products Messing With Your Hormones?
By Editorial Staff
The trend away from makeup, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic when working from home has become the norm and nights "out on the town" have been rare, may have a big bonus when it comes to women's health. According to new research, teenage girls who take even a short break from cosmetics experience a "significant drop in hormone-disrupting chemicals." Incredibly, it took only three days for significant improvements to be noticed.
And don't think makeup is the only culprit to consider; according to the study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, avoiding personal care products including soap, sunscreen, shampoo, conditioner and other hair products containing chemicals such as phthalates, parabens, tricolsan and oxybenzone appeared to be just as effective.
Specifically, the three-day switch to lower-chemical products revealed a significant drop in chemicals in the body, measured via urine samples. Methyl and propyl parabens (common use: cosmetics preservatives) declined by 44 percent and 45 percent, respectively; metabolites of diethyl phthalate (common use: perfumes) declined by 27 percent; and triclosan and benzophenone-3 both declined by 36 percent.
What's the lesson? It's just as true about personal care products as it is about health care in general: think natural! Always consider what you're putting into or on your body, whether a food, medication, cosmetic or anything else. Talk to your doctor for more information.
