R is for Read Labels to Avoid Chemicals

ABCs for healthy living are quick takes on simple strategies for creating a healthier life.

Commercially manufactured bread contains chemical additives.

I used to think that choosing healthy foods meant counting calories, fat grams, and carbs so that I could lose weight. I gave no thought at all to the ingredients used to create highly processed low calorie foods. I compromised my health every single time I ate something that came out of a box or carton no matter how low the calorie count was.

And then I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. While searching for ways to improve my symptoms, I learned that chemicals we are exposed to every day in common household products, cosmetics, and processed food make us sick. Exposure to these chemicals has been identified a a causal factor in almost all autoimmune illnesses, including fibromyalgia, as well as Alzheimer's Disease, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and many types of cancer.

Our bodies are designed to break down and utilize real food for energy, stamina, and to maintain health. Our bodies are not designed to deal with artificial chemical ingredients used by big food manufacturing companies to increase the shelf life of packaged products. Most food conglomerates are interested in profit margins, not health.

The label in the above picture is from a typical commercially manufactured loaf of whole wheat bread. When I make wheat bread, I use just a few real food ingredients: flour, wheat, salt, yeast, milk, butter, and a little sugar to activate the yeast.

Look at what has been added to the commercially manufactured loaf. And this is a brand that contains fewer added ingredients than many of the others sitting on the supermarket shelves. Consider just one of the added chemical ingredients. Monoglycerides are additives used as an emulsifier to keep oil and fat from separating. Monoglycerides (and diglycerides) often contain trace amounts of trans fats which have been banned for use in food production but don't have to be listed as a trans fat because of the level per serving calculations.They have been linked to an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and raising bad cholesterol levels.The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) has correlated consuming trans fats to increased rates of death.There is no safe level of them to eat.

I don't always have time to make my own bread. So I have become an avid label reader. When I buy a commercially produced loaf of bread, I read the ingredients labels, understand what each ingredient is, and make an informed decision about the purchase. My goal is to eat real food 90% of the time.That leaves 10% leeway for eating some processed food.

I also reduced my exposure to toxic chemicals by eliminating household cleaners that contain harmful ingredients and switching to safer cosmetics. For more info on how to reduce your exposure to toxic chemicals, check out these five ideas.

Eliminate These 3 Toxic Things Now

How to Clean Your Entire Bathroom Without Toxic Chemicals

How to Find Less Toxic Cosmetics

Why Fragrances are Harmful to Our Health

3 Nontoxic Household Cleaner Recipes

I was so debilitated from the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia that there were many days I could barely function. I stopped eating most processed food, started eating real food with a lot of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory nutrients, and switched to cleaning products and personal care items with fewer chemicals.It takes time and energy to make lifestyle changes but it is certainly worth the effort. Next month, I will celebrate four years of being completely symptom free.

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P is for Perfume

ABCs for healthy living are quick takes on simple strategies for creating a healthier life.

Do you know what is in your favorite fragrance?

When you see the word fragrance or perfume listed on the ingredient label for a cleaning product, personal care item, or cosmetic this means the product may contain up to 300 chemical ingredients which do not have to be listed individually, but can be covered by using just one word: perfume or fragrance. The fragrance industry gets away with this by calling the ingredients a trade secret. Manufactures can add anything under the heading trade secret and keep consumers in the dark about what they use.

Researchers have found that these secret ingredients include synthetic substances manufactured from petroleum derivatives and coal tar, benzene, phthalates, and volatile organic chemicals (VOCs).These chemicals are so bad that the U.S. National Academy of Science has grouped them with pesticides, heavy metals, and solvents as chemicals that need priority study as causal agents of neurotoxicity.

Every time you use a product that contains the word fragrance you inhale toxic particles into your lungs and they end up in the bloodstream where they have the potential to damage every organ in your body on a cellular level.

Studies show that, even at low levels,the harmful ingredients in fragrance cause fatigue, headaches, skin irritation, eye irritation, migraines, nausea, tingling and numbness in the arms and legs, dizziness, increased asthma symptoms, respiratory distress,central nervous system damage, and have been inked to liver and breast cancer.

Fragrance is harmful to the health of both users and their families. Its toxic effects linger in the air hours after use. It has the potential to compromise your health, the health of your children, and the health of anyone around you.

Fragrance has been called the new second-hand smoke because it is harmful to both users and bystanders.The response of public awareness to the dangers of fragrance lags behind public awareness of cigarette smoke. Researchers hope that will change quickly as more people become aware of how hazardous fragrance is to human health.

When I decided to move toward healthy living, I got rid of all the products in my home that contain the word fragrance. Some products are obvious: perfume, cologne, scented candles, and air fresheners. Some are not so obvious, So I read labels on everything I used and found fragrance listed as an ingredient in makeup, cosmetics, laundry detergent, toilet tissue, hairspray, household cleaners, soap, and many other household products I used every day.I ditched everything I found that had fragrance listed as an ingredient. I never use perfume, artificial air fresheners, and scented candles.I have found fragrance free versions of products I use every day like household cleaners and personal care items.

If you want to create a healthier life for yourself and your family, stop using products that contain the word fragrance.

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