Category Archives: Health & Wellness

When we think about being conscious as to what we put into our bodies, most of us focus on food and rightfully so. However, items we put on our bodies such as deodorants and cosmetics must also be taken into consideration. While we don’t necessarily “consume” these items in the traditional sense of taking them in through our mouth, stomach, intestines; we apply them to our skin and thus they are absorbed into our blood stream, which is the same place most of the content from our digested food winds up as well. With all the emphasis that is placed on utilizing a keen eye to discriminate food labels, it is only right to devote some attention to these other daily “consumed” products as well.

As with all issues regarding consumer awareness and personal changes, we will start small and with a few basic things that you and your loved ones should be aware of. I’m talking about products that most of use on a daily basis. Some of the ingredients used in these formulas can pose negative cumulative effects on the body.

A major one we are talking about here is deodorant. I’m assuming most of you use deodorant, although sometimes I wonder. There are a few ingredients that you may want to look out for next time you pick up your favorite stick. First off, it is almost imperative that it does not contain aluminum. Outside of the fact that aluminum is continuously linked to Alzheimer’s (which should be enough within itself), its use in deodorant in particular is now being linked to breast cancer. Aluminum is used mainly for its antiperspirant qualities, keeping you dry. However, if we break down how it actually does this, the potential problem is quite easy to grasp. In your arm pits you have glands that secrete oil and fatty toxins from your body. This is a necessary evil as it is the body’s designed mechanism for eliminating many of these waste products. Antiperspirants like Aluminum are used to block these glands from eliminating the toxins. These toxins now back up in the lymph nodes of your axilla (arm pit). Now we have numerous toxins blocked from exiting the body, backed up in your lymph system and into your breast. Not a good situation to say the least.

A couple of other potentially problematic ingredients you may want to scan for on that label are propylene glycol and triclosan. Propylene glycol is a chemical used in food and body care products. In deodorant it used to soften the product and make it more applicable to the skin. While it is disputed whether or not it is hazardous in small amounts, studies have shown that in large quantities it can cause damage to your central nervous system (BRAIN and spinal cord), liver and heart. I include this mention because deodorant isn’t something that we use in small amounts. This is something we apply directly to our skin and thus consume through our pores every day. If possible, efforts to minimize exposure should be made.

Triclosan is an odor killing antimicrobial agent found in cosmetics, anti-bacterial soaps, wipes, gels, and deodorants. This chemical is officially classified as a pesticide by the FDA and as a probable carcinogen by the EPA. It has the tendency to accumulate in the body and has been linked to hormone disruption and the emergence of certain “super-bug” bacteria.

Last thing about deodorants or any product for that matter is the use of artificial coloring. These are the ingredients that are simply named a color followed by a number. While it is true that some have been shown to be more problematic than others, many have been identified as being or being contaminated with carcinogenic chemicals or hyper-allergenic. Attempting to steer clear of these as much as possible is a solid approach. The list of banned or recognized as harmful colorings continues to grow as the human experiment continues to unfold.

Next daily utilized product I’d like to touch on is mainly for the females, hopefully. The use of lip care products has come under more scrutiny due to the presence of lead being discovered in these products. This is the same lead that has been banned in paints since 1978 due to its toxicity at low levels. Exposure to lead is linked to cancer, birth defects, and reproductive harm, amongst other things. While lead being absorbed through skin does not appear to pose as great a risk, it must be acknowledged that when you apply a substance to your lips, it is inevitable that will ingest some. Again, this becomes problematic when you are exposing yourself to these things on a daily basis. Lead also has the nasty ability to accumulate in the body, making the damage from its exposure cumulative in nature, no matter how small the dose. Christian Dior, Lancome, Clinique, Y.S.L., Estee Lauder, Chanel and Red Earth are just some of the more popular companies that have had lead found in their lipstick or gloss. That convenient long lasting quality is usually attributed to a higher lead load.

Last fall, my wife and I had the pleasure of attending a seminar called “The Y-Files,” which I highly recommend. We were enlightened as to a simple way to test your lip care products for lead content that I’d like to share with you all. You take the lip stick or gloss and draw a line across a clean, dry hand. After that take a gold ring and scratch the lipstick line you drew on your hand. If the color of the lipstick turns to grey or black, it signifies the presence of lead and you may want to think about switching brands.

These are just a few items that will hopefully create an awareness for each of you going forward. Taking the time to scan that label and maybe even look up an ingredient can have potentially life saving effects. Check that nail polish for formaldehyde, skin crème for mercury, cleaning products for various ingredients, etc. This is especially pertinent if you are trying to conceive or are around children as they are more susceptible to chemical hazards than adults. Go beyond simply reading the label on the front. Natural is pretty much meaningless, but misleading nonetheless. When it comes to cosmetics, organic refers to being pesticide free. This still leaves room for other problematic ingredients including many of those described above. Companies that advertise on their labels that they give money to breast cancer research ironically also make products that contain carcinogens.

So there you have it. Yet more burden of knowledge. Personally I was all about the food route and never gave much thought to these other products. But if you think about it, what we continuously apply to our bodies and thus into our bodies can be just as damaging. I know it can seem overwhelming, but that’s why I made mention of a couple daily offenders that we tend to use in high volume. I was a faithful Old Spice user for years until I flipped it over. As heart breaking as it was, I decided we needed to part ways. You can find alternative products at most health food stores. The list of ingredients is shorter and usually leaves off many potentially harmful culprits. Limit your exposure the best you can and continue moving in the right direction.

As I sat and watched the 1st half of the Super Bowl with my family, a commercial that I always found quite ridiculous came on. It featured a high school basketball team celebrating in the locker room after the game and being rewarded with what else but the fuel of champion athletes worldwide: McDonalds. I normally scoff and talk to myself when I see this ad, but this time I didn’t have to. My 3rd grade nephew busted out with a, “oh yeah right, I’m sure these athletes eat McDonalds.” While I’m sure many athletes get down on some suspect, self-destructive food choices, his comment and disapproval echoed the same sentiment ringing in my head. Having athletes, or even the images of health and nutrition pushing some Mickey D’s is ludicrous to say the least.

While being thoroughly impressed with my little buddy’s take on the commercial, the ad also brings to light the deceptiveness and outright laughable images these corporate machines try to create in order to move product. Even the toned down diet of “athletes everywhere,” from Subway is horribly misleading from a health standpoint. When you go to Subway, the two main ingredients to every sandwich are what? Bread and processed lunch meat otherwise known as cold cuts. If you want to know what’s up with bread, feel free to re-read my “Why Gluten Free?” post… and your cold cuts represent the epitome of processed foods loaded with salt and other carcinogenic preservatives. When I think of an athlete, I think of someone who is at the top of their game and an example of physical prowess, not someone on a steady diet of gluten and cheap processed, preservative packed “meat.” (Obviously this isn’t the case across the board, but you get my point).

I would be remiss if I did not address one ad campaign whose resiliency continues to shock me, and was carried onward during the Super Bowl by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Continually engraining the message of cow’s milk providing more benefit than risk is irresponsible to say the least. Yes, milk contains some desirable nutrients such as calcium and protein, but what else does it bring to the table? Well, milk is a dairy product and as I stated in a previous post, dairy products are responsible for a similar chain of events that takes place as when you consume gluten. I am talking about causing gut damage and leading to potential auto immune situations. In some of the latest research, casein (the protein in milk and other dairy products) has been linked to actually being a causative factor in type I diabetes. You see, like lectins in your grains, casein gets into your system and very closely resembles other proteins within your body. Bad part here is that when the immune system attacks the foreign invader, it also attacks proteins in your body with similar structure. In the case of diabetes I, this protein has an eerily similar structure to the beta cells of your pancreas (the cells that produce insulin). And thus we have a possible mechanism for insulin deficient or dependent type I diabetes, a previously assumed genetic disease. I guess this may be why the ad campaign has switched from “milk, it does the body good,” to simply “got milk?” Do I “got milk?” Not anymore.

I understand advertising is a necessity in today’s game, but to use athletes to push unhealthy products to an image driven public is outright dirty. I did see one ad that did seem to have the proper endorser in Mio Liquid Enhancer. They had comedian Tracy Morgan claiming that this additive to dress up your boring water is actually a drink intended for sports with electrolytes. This is a fitting match due to the fact that claiming a product filled with neurotoxic artificial sweeteners and the controversial propylene glycol will actually enhance your water in any realm beyond taste is truly a joke.

While on the subject of unintentionally funny commercials, proper consideration must also be given to your run-of-the-mill pharmaceutical ads. You know the ones I’m talking about, riddled with couples in bath tubs, grandparents frolicking with their grandchildren and flying neon butterflies that appear to whisk you off to sleep. Next time one of these commercials come on I want you to attempt not to zone out and actually pay attention. Notice the slow, soothing presenter who informs you on just what symptom this magic pill is designed to mask and the images that accompany the bliss this candy will bring.

Now I know this is hard, but hang in there and attempt to stay tuned in longer than the pharmaceutical companies bank on you doing so. Listen as the voice gets a little softer (blissful music turned up, pleasant imagery still flooding your senses), and begins to rattle off some of the side effects. Everything from nausea and dizziness, to seizures and potential death. Listen as this list rambles on, in most cases for a longer period of time than the time utilized for product presentation and benefits. Imagine if they hit you with coinciding images for the potential side effects as they do for the possible benefits. Keep in mind as well that these are only some of the side effects and they do not usually include dependency and repercussions of long term usage. Why are the long term effects left out? In many cases because they are not even known yet. In many cases these drugs are pushed through to the market backed by studies funded by and interpretation of results published by the same company which stands to profit from its success. The real experiments take place on us as we see the commercial and ask our doctor for the new pill.

This rattling off of side effects is intentional and done only because companies have been forced to do so. Don’t think for a second that these dollar driven “health care” companies would illuminate the hazards if the powers that be didn’t finally step up to the plate and somewhat force the issue. As stated earlier, this “fine print” portion of the ad is strategically placed after these companies know that the average viewer and/or reader is no longer mentally engaged. This has never been so true than in ads for the ever so controversial statin drugs (drugs to lower cholesterol). These ads tell you straight up in the fine print that in addition to all the side effects, these drugs have never been shown to actually prevent heart disease, attack, or stroke. This would be laughable if these drugs weren’t so sadly overprescribed and responsible for ample deleterious side effects.

So what is a consumer to do? Well, for starters wake up and pay attention. These billion dollar companies are armed with the brightest advertising and marketing minds in the land. Slick presentation and convenient omission of the maximum amount of negative (but truthful) content is done on purpose. Recognize that the dollar-driven powers-that-be and corporate giants are just that, dollar-driven. It’s not our health or longevity they’re concerned about. This responsibility lies solely upon your shoulders and it is up to you to utilize your resources and common sense to cut through the “B.S.” and make the best choices.