Did you know your hair care products could contain hormones? Yes you heard that right! Today we’re talking about Endocrine Disruptors.
What are Endocrine Disruptors? According to Emory University School of Medicine: Endocrine Disruptors (EDs) are environmental chemicals that affect the function of the endocrine system, the system involving the glands and hormones of the body. The endocrine system coordinates the functions of various organs and systems in the body. EDs may disrupt the endocrine system in several ways:
- they may act as “impostors” of naturally occurring hormones
- they may block the action of hormones
- they may alter the chemical message sent by hormones
- they may disrupt the production of hormones or hormone receptors (proteins used to receive information from hormones)
Sounds scary doesn’t it? Well here’s the really scary part – those Endocrine Disruptors are hiding all around us…in our food, our water supply, personal care products like makeup and skincare and more.
So what can we do about it? One great place to start keeping an eye on what you’re using is the EWG’s Skin Deep website. Their website has great tips for shopping for safe products including produce! They also have a guide of EWG verified products you can use while you’re shopping.
I also recommend checking your hormone levels. We have saliva test kits here at the pharmacy you can pick up and take home to do. This will give you a good baseline of the levels of your sex hormones.
Being aware is half the battle!
