Environmental medicine is such an enormous obstacle to cure in this day and age. We are constantly bombarded by face creams, shampoos and soaps that are filled with endocrine disruptors such as pthalates and parabens.
Sounds scary, but what does that mean??
Endocrine disruptors disguise themselves in our body and mimic hormones that we naturally produce, this can throw our hormones all out of balance. Many of these environmental toxins are called xeno-estrogens which add to the burden of estrogens in the body.
We love estrogen, it is what makes our skin healthy and hydrated, it builds bone and builds a beautiful home for a fertilized egg. However, only when it dances in tandem with your progesterone levels (more to come with this next week, stay tuned!).
Our liver’s job is to help keep estrogen levels in check and helps excrete excess estrogens, when we constantly expose ourselves to chemicals we over work our liver and it has difficulty keeping up with all the excess. Even worse, our liver can get tired and convert estrogen to cancer causing or proliferative forms of estrogen ( 4OH and 16OH-estrogen) these volatile byproducts also give us heavy periods and can cause extra clotted menses as well.
So next time you are checking out the label on your shampoo or food, skip the calorie count and check out the ingredients, if you can’t pronounce it, it probably doesn’t belong in or around your lovely body!
