The Bitter Truth about Scents

As someone who has spent the last several years cutting out all of the endocrine disrupting chemicals and other toxins from my everyday life, I find that I am very sensitive to strong fragrances. I think when you clean up your body and your environment you are able to hear those God given clues that let you know that something is not good for you. Over time we ignore those little discomforts, and the body adapts to dealing with the toxins until it gets to a point that it can't deal with it anymore and you are hit with the sledgehammer of cancer or some other devastating auto immune condition. Those little discomforts and whispers that the body gives you are a warning to get away from whatever it is in your environment that is causing that effect. Over the last six months there has been an overwhelming increase in fragrances in our environment. I can't even go outside of my house without getting a good dose of an endocrine disrupting scent. It is in our air from nearby factories, is inside most cosmetics and beauty care products, in scented candles and air fresheners, and is found in our laundry detergent and fabric softeners. Oddly enough most of the time the scent all smells the same. Is it the culmination of the all the different chemicals that create this same scent? Whatever it is it gives me an instant headache and causes some brain fog. I can't imagine how the people that are doused with these chemicals are able to function througout the day. If it is impacting me by just being in their vicinity what is it like when it is in your bloodstream from using it on your skin or breathing it all day long. Studies are showing it is negatively impacting our hormones, causing infertility, causing respiratory distress, and allergies. I know that infertility is multifactorial but I can't help but wonder if all the beauty products are one of the main drivers in the infertility epidemic. It seems like so many of the people that are publicly showing their infertility struggles are the ones that apply so many different products to their face and hair each day. The beauty industry is not really regulated and they are able to hide whatever ingredients that may be undesirable under the "fragrance" umbrella. It is their trade secret and they are not required to disclose what ingredients make up their fragrance. Some of the main endocrine disruptors to watch out from are phthalates, parabens, and PFAS (Polyfuoroalkyl substances). Try to find products that are fragrance free. The more you can decrease the number of products you are using on your skin and hair and switching to cleaner products the healthier you and your environment will be. Many of these chemicals are being found in the cord blood of infants which shows it is being passed on to your baby in the womb. Want to improve your health and the health of your family? Ditch the scented candles, switch to fragrance-free laundry detergent, switch to more natural skincare and hair care, and try using more natural ingredients where you can. We are definitely living in unprecedented times where obesity and disease are at an all time high. These are simple things that you can do that can help make a huge difference.