The ingredient banned in Europe almost every U.S. woman is exposed to.

What ingredient is BANNED in Europe yet almost every girl and woman in the U.S. is exposed to daily?

Parabens!

What is all the Hype? Why is it banned in Europe? Why should you care?

Parabens are a class of preservative that are widely used in cosmetics and pharmaceutical products. Parabens are in about 85% of cosmetics because they are cheep and very effective at keeping bacteria out. You will commonly see more than one paraben in the ingredient list, usually butylparabene, methylparaben and propylparaben are used together because, together they work better to keep the bacteria growth down.

Good for preserving the make up, not so good for us. Read on.

The problem with parabens is that they mimic estrogen in the body.

NO BUENO!

Estrogen disruption has been linked to reproductive issues and breast cancer. Another concerning problem is parabens have been found in malignant breast tumors. Indicating that they at least contribute to breast cancer development.

This tells us that they are being stored in the body, as they build up they start to have a cumulative health effect. Multiply that by all the other chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis and you have a recipe for disaster, a perfect storm, the tip of the iceberg. You get it.

The evidence on parabens is not completely clear, however it does raise some concerns. Very rarely do we have definitive causative evidence, but there is a relationship. Thats enough for me and my family to stay away. It’s not worth the risk. There are plenty of products made without these ingredients, many of them we can even make ourselves.

With the cancer rates being so high in our country we have to start looking at how we can make changes.

If so many chemicals in our every day products can be linked to cancer or hormonal problems shouldn’t we look at how much we are exposing ourselves to and make some changes. If you are having hormonal imbalances or other symptoms, you can get checked out to see if these toxins are building in your body.

What can you do? Below is a list of products that are paraben free that we like to use in our house.

Avalon Organics is one of my favorites! We use their lotion, face cleanser, and shampoo and conditioner.

Gabriel has great makeup!

Desert Essence has shampoo that leaves my hair very silky and shinny. (I also have to find a shampoo without sulfites.) Just be careful with this brand as some of them have fragrances. The lemon shampoo does not.

So go ahead and get dolled up. Just do it naturally and toxin free.

Dr. Craig Mortensen