Living in a Chemical-Free Environment

​Rarely do we take the time to learn about the industrial chemicals that are present in our everyday household items. Products like laundry detergent, hand soap, deodorant, toothpaste, all contain Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS). SLS is a strong industrial detergent that is also used in engine degreasers, floor cleaners, and car wash soaps. Manufacturers add SLS because of its easy availability and low cost, and also to add that magical foaming effect you notice in your favorite body wash or shampoo.

While we may not notice effects of SLS and fluoride (another dangerous compound) immediately, over time you can expect effects of accumulation. These compounds are not necessary and cause irritation at some level for most people. In lab studies, SLS is used as a skin irritant. For years I personally struggled with dry irritated skin until I figured out the chemicals that have been living with me all along in my toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and laundry detergent. These chemicals are a hidden danger, their negative effects are not studied thoroughly. Our skin can absorb anything it comes to contact with so including chlorine and fluoride, it is time we start making better choices for ourselves.

We start with toothpaste. Conventional toothpaste is usually packed with chemicals and detergents. The proven benefit of adding fluoride to toothpaste has been minuscule at best but there has been some serious evidence of fluoride being a major cancer causing agent. In your regular toothpaste you also find SLS as the first or second ingredient. When SLS enters the mouth it irritates the sensitive membranes of the mouth, causing many people to have mouth ulcers and gum issues. Again, during our life time we accumulate these chemicals and compounds in our bodies. There are many SLS free types of toothpaste. Those provide the same clean mouth without any unnecessary ingredients. If you are concerned with whitening your teeth, brushing them with baking soda for a period of time will act as a light abrasive and clean your teeth. You can also make toothpaste out of baking soda and coconut oil.

Lets choose a fluoride and SLS free toothpaste next time you visit your local grocery or health store. Recently I discovered Dr. Bronners brand of toothpaste and also various Activated Charcoal-based ones that do a great job cleaning without any adverse effects.

​Moving onto soap and shampoo! SLS or Sodium Lauryl Sulfate is in all kinds of household products. Shampoo is loaded with it to create enough bubbles to fill the whole room and give you the illusion that its doing a good job cleaning your hair. In reality the regular shampoos strip the hair of its essential oils and irritate the scalp especially for those with sensitive skin. That is the reason conditioner is put on the shelves, to try to put the oils back in and restore the hair. Shower gels are loaded with chemicals and industrial irritants as well. The chemicals are widely used because of low cost of manufacture and the tons of bubbles they create for “even better cleaning”. We also strip our skin of needed oils and leave it less able to defend against Staph or MRSA bacteria. There really is such thing as being too clean.There are ways to keep clean without chemicals. For a long time I have been using Dr. Bronners soaps and cant go anywhere overnight without it. With ingredients like Coconut oil, Olive oil, Hemp oil and Jojoba oil, Dr. Bronners soap is not only good for the environment but also good for you. It cleans and bubbles just as well as your conventional soaps if not better without irritating the skin. People have been known to wash clothes, brush their teeth and clean the whole house all with the same soap.
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I am in no way affiliated with the company and get no free merchandise from them (that would be awesome!) but I tell people I know about the soap all the time and even buy it for them to try. Just like that you can eliminate coming in contact with some nasty chemicals that have no business being in your bathroom. Try any alternative castile or hemp based oil soap and you wont regret it. There is a variety of flavors like Almond, Lavender, Lemon, Hemp Peppermint.

Your everyday deodorant can cause a bunch of problems as well! The conventional deodorant is perhaps the most dangerous of all household items. We are talking about the super popular “antiperspirants” that boast a great reduction in armpit perspiration and therefore keep you cool and sexy at all times. The problem with blocking the sweat is that the glands located near the armpit are responsible for flushing out many toxins and free radicals out of our bodies. Not only are we blocking our natural toxin passage ways and are unable to expel undesirable compounds from our body but we are also introducing some chemicals to that sensitive under arm tissue. Aluminum, which is a staple in the deodorant/antiperspirant industry, is also a known neurotoxin that has been linked to Alzheimers and other brain diseases. Aluminium is not a needed metal in your body and will accumulate over time just like Mercury, Fluoride, etc.

Applying conventional deodorants is a sure way to wreck havoc on your lymph glands over the course of your lifetime. After examining more and more cancer tissue, the medical community looks to investigate further the potential role of deodorant chemicals.

Chlorophyll, which is an elixir of life and exists in all plant matter and deserves a full blog post of it’s own, is also known as “nature’s deodorant”. It will help with smelly breath and overall make the body smell more pleasant. Considering it’s incredible health benefits, chlorophyll is really a beast of a supplement. It will be covered later in the blog as we dive into the importance of alkalinity. Your diet will also contribute to your lack or existence of recognizable body odor. We all know the familiar “sweating out” the alcohol from the night before. All impurities and poisons like alcohol and junk food have to be processed and properly removed from the body, so by reducing the amount we take in we can more or less regulate our own odors.

​​For those always struggling with body odor, you can use various types of Aluminium-free deodorants. These look and work just like the conventional deodorants but won’t have aluminium.

For filtering drinking water there are a few good options. Best for their value are under the sink filters. They utilize multi-stage filtering with carbon and other technologies to provide more dependable water than “Brita” style carafe pitchers. Under the sink filters only need to be replaced about once a year or so with normal use and can be hidden for an aesthetic look. I finally invested into a Home Master full Artesian Reverse-Osmosis system under my sink. The water is completely reversed into H2O and then re-mineralized on the way out of the faucet into your glass. A new chemical chloramine has been introduced to our water supply recently and filtering it out is only possible with complex stage filters like reverse osmosis. If a filtration system is out of the question, it is good to keep spring water around. Pay attention when you buy water because some of bottled water is purified and not spring, and it is unclear where it exactly comes from. Spring water or vapor distilled water is still a reliable source of clean water.

Last step for today is shower filters! They help filter our chlorine from your shower water, making it a much healthier experience. This reduces your intake of chlorine and leaves your skin and hair with much more moisture. The one I have been using is called Sprite and it is Vitamin C based.

Invest in these products and enjoy a higher standard of living! Household chemicals can cause problems when you are surrounded by them. Take steps to protect yourself!