hormone disruptors Archives - Amazing Health Advances

Chemicals from Hair and Beauty Products Impact Hormones, Especially During Pregnancy

AHA Publisher — Wed, 15 Dec 2021 08:00:22 +0000

Rutgers University-New Brunswick via Newswise – Use of certain personal care products during pregnancy may impact maternal hormone levels, according to a new Rutgers study. Personal care and beauty products contain several ingredients that often include a wide range of endocrine-disrupting chemicals like phthalates, parabens, phenols, parabens and toxic metals. These chemicals interact with hormone systems, influencing synthesis, regulation, transport, metabolism and hormone reception, which are all especially vulnerable during pregnancy. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and National Institutes of Health-funded study, published in Environmental Research, examined the association between personal care product use and the levels of sex steroid hormones, including estrogens and progesterone and thyroid hormones among pregnant women. The researchers also explored how demographic factors impact the use of certain personal care products. Researchers collected blood samples from 1,070 pregnant women between 18 and 40 years of age enrolled in the Puerto Rico PROTECT Cohort, an ongoing prospective birth study designed to examine environmental exposures in pregnant women and their children who live in the northern karst zone of Puerto Rico. As part of the study, participants underwent physical exams and completed a series of questionnaires providing their demographics, occupation, lifestyle and use of personal care products like fragrances, lotions, cosmetics, nail polish, shaving cream, mouthwash, shampoo and other hair products, such as bleach, relaxers and mousse. Participants also provided blood samples twice throughout their pregnancies, which were analyzed for nine sex steroid and thyroid hormones. The researchers found that the use of hair products, particularly hair dyes, bleach, relaxers and mousse are associated with lower levels of sex steroid hormones, which have a critical role maintaining pregnancy and fetal development. Disruptions of these hormones may contribute to adverse maternal and pregnancy outcomes like growth restriction, preterm birth and low birth weight. “Alterations in hormone levels, especially during pregnancy, can have vast consequences beyond health at birth including changes in infant and child growth, pubertal trajectories the study’s lead author, Zorimar Rivera-Núñez, an assistant professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health. “Additional research should address the public health impact of exposure to chemicals in hair products in pregnant populations.” The researchers also found that socioeconomic variables, such as income, education and employment status, influence the use of personal care products among pregnant women in Puerto Rico. For example, participants who reported a household income greater than $100,000 use personal care products more often than participants with lower household incomes. Additionally, employed participants reported using more cosmetics than those who were unemployed. “Prior research has shown that non-pregnant populations have also reported associations between frequency of use and socioeconomic markers, such as household income and education,” Rivera-Núñez said. “A strong culture of beauty influences Latina women, which may impact consistent use of cosmetics through pregnancy. This data is important because it will allow us to identify populations who are at an increased risk of chemical exposures associated with personal care product use.” The researchers, who include individuals from the Rutgers Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, University of Michigan, University of Puerto Rico, University of Georgia and Northeastern University, recommend that primary physicians and obstetricians should speak to reproductive-age women about the potential health impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals, like those found in hair products. To read the original article click here.

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Phosphate ALERT: Why Heart Damage Is Triggered By Fast Food Choices

AHA Publisher — Thu, 31 Dec 2020 08:00:39 +0000

Karen Sanders via NaturalHealth365 – Published research reveals how phosphate additives have been linked to higher blood pressure and heart disease. Phosphates, also called phosphorous additives, are customarily added to processed meats, processed cheeses and various types of soda to increase shelf life and intensify flavors. They also appear at high levels in fast food. In a study published in EMBO Molecular Medicine, researchers found that large quantities of added phosphates cause the body to produce a hormone known as fibroblast growth factor 23, or FGF23 – responsible for controlling the excretion of phosphate through the kidneys. When phosphate levels are too high, FGF23 levels go up as well, in an effort to excrete the excess phosphate. If even more phosphate additives are ingested, the effect is akin to that of throwing fat on the fire: levels of both phosphate and FGF23 increase even more – a vicious cycle that can lead to serious health problems, including damaging effects on the cardiovascular system. WARNING for Fast Food Lovers: Phosphates Diminish Our Ability to Balance Vital Minerals FGF23 also controls the excretion of sodium through the kidneys. When phosphate levels are too high, this process is impaired, and blood pressure can spike as a result, putting strain on the heart. High phosphate levels present a particular threat to people with kidney disease, as they often have high blood pressure and elevated levels of phosphates and FGF23 to begin with. In fact, so important are FGF23 levels in kidney patients that researchers say they can serve as an indication of life expectancy. As if adversely affecting blood pressure, FGF23 and sodium levels weren’t damaging enough, high phosphate levels also cause an increased uptake of calcium, which can lead to ventricular calcification. Research teams in earlier phosphate studies warned that even healthy young men are at risk of coronary calcifications if high phosphate levels are present. Don’t Phosphates Occur Naturally in Food and the Body? Yes, to both. Our bodies need a certain amount of phosphorous to maintain the health of teeth and bones, and many foods – including dairy foods, beans, grains and nuts – contain this mineral naturally. However, researchers tell us that naturally-occurring, organic phosphates pose no health threat, as they are broken down entirely differently by the body, with only 40 to 60 percent being reabsorbed. Commercially added – or “free” – phosphates, on the other hand, have a reabsorption rate of almost 100 percent. (not good!) Although this study explored the link between phosphate levels, FGF23 and coronary disease, it is by no means the only study to point out the dangers of phosphates. In fact, credible scientists and researchers worldwide have been trying to warn us for years. German researchers sounded an emphatic alarm in 2012 with a landmark article in Duetsches Arzteblatt. The team stated that excessive phosphate consumption causes higher mortality rates in patients with kidney disease, increases risk of heart disease in otherwise healthy people, damages blood vessels and induces the aging process. They urgently called for labeling to identify phosphate additives, as well as the need for alerting both physicians and the general public to the dangers of phosphates. In 2011, researchers in the UK showed a link between a high phosphate diet and atherosclerosis, noting that high phosphate consumption causes increased cholesterol deposits and subsequent narrowing of the arteries. The scientists called for reducing phosphate in the diet, and suggested the possible development of binding agents that could stop phosphate from being absorbed. In a study published in 2010 in The FASEB Journal, one of the world’s most cited biology publications, phosphates were found to be toxic to mice, drastically reducing their lifespans. Remarking that phosphates caused accelerated signs of aging and worsened age-related diseases, the research team called for the public to avoid phosphate toxicity by eating less phosphate-laden foods. Low Income Groups Are Disproportionately Affected As earlier as 2010, one study showed that high levels of these toxic additives are more than twice as common in low-income groups as in higher-income groups. Due to limited food choices and access, low-income groups consume a disproportionate amount of the country’s fast food; as a result, they experience higher serum levels of phosphate, along with more kidney disease. How Can I Avoid Phosphate Additives? To keep ingestion of free phosphates to a minimum, you should avoid or sharply reduce your consumption of fast food, baked goods, processed meats – such as sausage and ham – and processed cheeses. Choose food that is fresh, organic and additive-free whenever possible. Phosphates added to food are often added in the form of polyphosphates, which means you may see them listed as potassium (or calcium) phosphate and triphosphate. Be wary of buying “enhanced” fresh meat or poultry … because these foods are sometimes injected with polyphosphates – a fact not always indicated on the label. In a 2009 study, products labeled as “enhanced” had an average phosphate concentration that was between 28 and 100 percent higher than that of additive-free foods. Simply put, with an abundance of research documenting the dangers of phosphates, it’s time to give these harmful substances the gate. Chances are – we’ll live a lot longer and better. Sources for this article include: Sciencedaily.com, Sciencedaily.com, Sciencedaily.com, NIH.gov, Sciencedaily.com To read the original article click here. For more articles from NaturalHealth365 click here.

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How Toxic Skincare Can Mess Up Your Mental Health

AHA Publisher — Fri, 11 Dec 2020 08:00:47 +0000

Dr. Caroline Leaf – The world of healthy eating can be confusing and overwhelming at times. It can also be toxic and can set us up for a host of mental and physical health issues if we are not careful. In this podcast (episode #235) and blog, I speak with nutritional therapy practitioner and certified personal trainer Noelle Tarrabout how diet culture is dangerous and how to combat the negative effects, how to build sustainable weight loss and fitness habits, how to begin healing orthorexia and body dysmorphia, why we should use clean beauty and skincare products, and more! As Noelle points out, many people hide unhealthy behaviors like extreme dieting and over-exercising by placing them under the guise of “being healthy”. We cannot just change what we do; we also need to change our THINKING. If you hate what you are doing and it is making you feel sick and unhappy, then it is not healthy. In fact, if we don’t focus on our physical AND mental health when we are talking about food, weight and body image, then we are missing a big part of the picture, and our overall wellbeing will suffer as a result! Unfortunately, the wellness industry is, in large part, dominated by modern diet culture. This culture is characterized by the pervasive, dangerous belief in our society that it is better to be smaller and thinner. It tells us that our value or worth is in our weight, shape or clothing size, or our ability to control what we look like. It assumes that food and appearance have moral value, making people feel like they are good or bad people depending on what they eat and how they look. Indeed, most fitness advertisements are completely focused on weight loss. We have forgotten what exercise is really about: optimal MENTAL and physical health, not what you look like or how much you weigh! We need to understand that true health or loving your body is not a destination. You will not reach it at the end of a series of tasks. Your problems will still be there when you reach your ideal size or look if you haven’t changed your thinking. Indeed, you don’t always need to love your body and obsess over it, because your life is not just about your body! We need to normalize change, both in how we feel and how we look. As Noelle notes, it is very normal for our weight to fluctuate over time. A changing body is a “normal” body, because we are always changing, especially as women. We can be healthy at a variety of weights! We also need to understand that when we are dieting all the time and eating low calories, we are also eating low nutrients. We are essentially setting ourselves up for nutrient deficiency, and our body and mind will start to act funky! The food that we eat and the exercise we do will either set us up for success in every area of our life or failure.When we chase after something that we think we should do or an image we think we should look like, our health will take a turn for the worse. We shouldn’t live our life pursuing fleeting social images of “ideal” bodies—it is not worth it! Unfortunately, modern diet culture has not only led to a rise in body dysmorphia (obsessing over flaws in our appearance/body), but also increasing rates of orthorexia in our society. Orthorexia is a classified eating disorder that involves and unhealthy obsession with healthy eating and dieting. Someone who is struggling with orthorexia is completely consumed with monitoring what they eat and how much they eat. The first step in healing orthorexia is getting to the root of your behavior. Why do you do what you do? What are the intentions behind your choices and actions? What drives your obsession with healthy eating and weight? How can you undo the damaging diet culture beliefs that dominate your thinking? If you don’t change the way you see yourself, your worth and food, you will not achieve long-term, sustainable healing. You need to learn how to take your focus off the scale and mirror and back onto what is going to serve YOU, physically, mentally and emotionally. But, as Noelle points out, health is not just about what we put into our body, but also what we put onto our body, especially when it comes to our hormonal health. Many skincare, cleaning and beauty products have chemicals that act as hormone disrupters, which can impact both our mental and physical health. Indeed, research has shown that some of these chemicals can stay in our blood stream for up to a month! This is why Noelle is a part of the company Beauty Counter, which focuses on clean and healthy beauty, bath and skincare products that make you feel good on the outside and inside. To read the original article click here. For more articles from Dr. Leaf click here.

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