Antibiotics in your soap! (and other horrible things I'm discovering)

Ok, so as you can tell I am really researching and studying the chemicals that are in our everyday products. I am quite convinced that our ancestors did not have 20 different shampoos to choose from with a list of ingredients that I can't even pronounce! The same goes for toothpaste, soaps, deoderant...etc. This whole subject about parabens, antibiotics, sodium lauryl sulfate and many other chemicals really has me searching for good, sound research.

Did you know that 72% of all the liquid soap in the U.S contains antibacterial ingredients? The active ingredient in most antibacterial soap is triclosan, an antibacterial agent that kills bacteria and inhibits bacterial growth. But not only does Triclosan kill bacteria, it also has been shown to kill human cells. Triclosan was introduced into consumer products in 1995, and its use has rapidly spread. Many scientists fear that the widespread use could lead to a strain of resistant bacteria, or "superbugs", and cause the ingredients to lose effectiveness for the times when they are really needed. Children who are not exposed to common bacteria, which are wiped out by antibacterial soap, may be more prone to allergies and asthma. Even the American Medical Association does not recommend these products!

Then there are the deoderants out there. Most offensive, the anti-perspirent ones. All of these contain aluminum which has been shown to cause alzheimer disease. That is not its only offense. Some chemicals in regular deoderant are also found in the breast tumors of cancer patients! There are lymph nodes that are located in the arm pit area and these lymph nodes drain right into the breast tissue. We all know that substances enter our bodies via the skin (examples include nicotine patches and birth control patches) so whatever we are putting on our skin is getting into our body. However when a women shaves it really opens up her pores, causing the substances applied to really go into the skin and into the body. And since we use deoderant every day (most of us) then just imagine in the course of a lifetime how much of our deoderant is in our body?

I could go on and on... but I will spare you :) This week I have made the switch to all natural, chemical free shampoo, soap and deoderant. We also use natural toothpaste and mouthwash. This might seem overwhelming to some of you, but make little changes. Its the little changes you make that add up to big difference in your health!