Hormone Disrupting Chemicals-Do You Avoid and How?

ceanna

Interesting article including a list of 18 things to do (scroll to bottom of article to see list) to avoid hormone disrupting chemicals--from the sometimes controversial Dr. Mercola--which can lead to health problems including breast cancer.  Specifically includes the chemicals in cosmetics, hygiene products, etc.   The video included, produced in Australia, is more about endocrine systems and how human created chemicals disrupt reproduction and development. 

Has anyone actively removed plastics and other chemicals from their life, and had any positive health results? How did you do it?

ceanna

Here's the link:

 

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/06/06/chemical-exposure.aspx?e_cid=20150606Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20150606Z1&et_cid=DM76274&et_rid=983000795

juneping

I don't get why the fabric shower curtain

abigail48

poly vinal chloride outgasses

labelle

I've made a huge effort to avoid chemicals since my BC diagnosis, including buying mostly organic foods (fruits, veggies and meats) getting rid of plastics, getting rid of beauty products containing chemicals, threw out many household cleaning products and replaced them w natural cleaners, drinking filtered water only, avoiding canned foods (PBA).

It's not just Dr. Mercola that recommends this. I recently read Anti-Cancer A New way of Life by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, Phd and

The Whole-Food Guide for Breast Cancer Survivors by Edward Bauman

Both focus primarily on diet but also contain lots of information about the dangers of chemical in our environment.

Positive results? Well, I guess it is too soon to tell when it comes to BC reccurrence, but I feel good these days, a natural diet seems to agree with me.

How to do it? I threw out all my make-up and replaced with natural alternatives, brands. Threw out perfumes and replaced with essential oils,

threw out regular shampoos, toothpaste, etc and replaced with natural brands (love Nature's Gate shampoos and conditioners). Got rid of the Pine Sol, replaced with Mrs. Meyer's cleaners, now use natural laundry soap and dishwasher gel (Walmart has a version) , natural soap or homemade soaps (know your maker). The products are out there, you just need to look for them. I live in a relatively small city, but we have one very good health food store and I've become a regular Amazon shopper.

Jenwith4kids

I have also made every effort to "clean up" our household. From food to cleaning products, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo, etc.... I've learned that even products that claim to be all natural often aren't and I have learned how to tell the difference. I had no idea that "fragrance" and "parfum" are often endocrine disruptors. I knew to stay away from parabens and aluminum but really never thought about much else... it's not easy but I feel like I am making a difference for me and my family.

leggo

Ceanna, just throw the plastic away! I know it's difficult but if it's plastic, chuck it, and if you can't be without it, like pre-bottled water for example, never let it heat up (don't leave it in the sun). I even got rid of my coffee maker in favor of a french press because of the plastic guts. Even plastics that make the bold claim "BPA free" are still harmful. There's no way to make safe plastic.

My other line in the sand is absolutely no tap water if it's going in my body. Filtered only, even for cooking. A reverse osmosis system is an affordable way to do that....most water places rent them if you don't want to spend the big money all at once.

Replace any cleaning product you can with natural alternatives and never use commercial air fresheners. Essential oils for fragrance instead. They may seem expensive, but they go a long way and have so many uses.

Lastly, there are so many healthy alternatives for beauty and hygiene....more hit the market every day. If you're ever unsure, here's a great site to give you the low-down. Check every personal care item you're using for safety. I for one, was SHOCKED when I did that and garbaged it all immediately. They've also come out with an app that you can just scan bar-codes with when you're shopping. It's buggy right now and doesn't have a great data base yet, but I'm sure it will improve in the near future the more that it gets used. Just look for the SKIN DEEP app on the playstore.

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/

There's also a young man named James Wong, an ethnobotanist. You can usually find him on lifestyle tv programming called "Make Your Own Drugs". He's awesome. If you don't get the show you can google for about every natural product he makes from mouthwash to dandruff shampoo, he's got it all. Check him out....he's smart and cute! Don't often get that combo. Lots of ideas for making your own stuff, if you're into that.

The more we demand safe products, the quicker the toxic crap will go away. At least we can give future generations a shot.

leggo

Forgot to mention, one thing I never thought about until it was too late, my favourite jacket was some weird PVC material. I'd been wearing that thing for years....until one day out of the blue, I broke out in a freaky rash wherever the jacket touched my skin. I was wearing a tank top underneath and no kidding, when I took it off, I could see the outline. Never gave it a second thought until then and probably should have. I can only imagine the toxins in that thing.

Lots of good info on this thread too.

https://community.breastcancer.org/forum/79/topic/...

labelle

And I traded my plastic coffee maker in for a stainless steel perculator-maybe a better option than the french press if you have more than one coffee drinker in your household. Also quite drinking coffee at work (made in the break room w unfiltered water and plastic coffeemaker) and instead bring a metal thermos of green tea to work with me each day-better for us anyway.

But getting rid of most plastic, was difficult for me. I still use some for cold food storage, but mostly I've switch to glass containers (some with plastic tops). I had a hard time getting rid of or throwing out perfectly good things.

Next thing to go will be my 2 teflon frying pans-I saw some frying pans w no stick enamel coating the other day and am thinking they might be a healthier alternative-hate to give up no stick-I have one uncoated stainless steel frying pan and it sucks to clean.

Anyway, this has been a pretty gradual process for me, buy a few glass container-throw out some plastic ones. Buy essential oils and carrier oils and throw out perfumes. Find and buy natural organic products (like soaps, cleaners, toothpaste) as I ran low on the old, regular, toxic ones. When it was time to restock anything, I looked for better, healthier options to replace them with.

Cowgirl13

Don't forget those non-wrinkles wipes that people use in the dryer when they are drying clothes. I won't touch them.

leggo

I agree. It is a process. Even getting rid of a few things is better than doing nothing at all. It is impossible for me to get rid of everything and I never expect to. It'd be a pretty vanilla life. I will never give up my completely plastic Soda Stream and my Chanel No. 5 It's a trade-off too, sometimes. Get rid of this, so I can have that.

Labelle, it is possible to turn any good quality stainless steel pan into a non-stick one. Use a couple, three tbsp. of high smoke point oil, heat it up on max for a few minutes (at the high temp just before smoking), and wipe it out once it's cool enough. If it looks like a mirror when you're done, you've succeeded. It'll be a pretty good non-stick for 4 or 5 uses, even for eggs if it's preheated well enough. Won't work more than once though if you put it in the dishwasher.

Jenwith4kids

great attitude Leggo! I'm with you. I will have to try the non-stick trick though I've been having good enough luck with my stainless steel pans.

Like I said in my earlier post, I've learned a lot about identifying "safe" products and finding alternatives to toxic ones. If you are interested in learning more too, please PM me.

leggo

One of my friends told me it works better if you let it smoke away in the oven for five minutes instead of the stove-top. I've never tried it because it seems a tad caustic, but another option to PTFE, which is probably worse.

ceanna

Interesting discussion and tips.  I have a lot of work to do!!  I have a growing fear of plastics and am recognizing how often we are exposed.  Even my daily newspaper comes in a plastic bag!!!  I now hate those coated cash register receipts!!  How would we avoid them?

I have tried Mrs. Meyer's products but with lots of allergies, I had a reaction to the products but haven't yet found any similar other local products. (I like to buy "local" not online to support the local economy.)

I microwaved food in plastic for years and wondered at the time about their health risks. I now use glass.  I did switch to glass water bottles, but am still trying to figure out a solution to the glass bottle having a plastic lid or gasket.  Any suggestions? 

Does anyone know about microwaving on paper plates?  Some brands of plates seem so coated--I'm wondering what the coating is?

I did find ceramic coated steel fry pans.  Are they safe?   

So many questions and answers to explore, but I love your suggestions to take it one step at a time.

Lily55

Microwaving is not good for us as it nukes the food, it changes the molecules so our bodies don´t recognise the food as nutrition

labelle

For what it is worth, Dr. Weil seems to like ceramic no-stick pans. I'm pretty sure they are safe, but I don't know about durable. Anyone used them? I will try "seasoning" my stainless steel frying pan as leggo suggested-that sounds like what we used to do with cast iron pans (no longer use them either) .

I too use the microwave very infrequently these days because I'm not convinced it's safe and it does bad things to our food nutritionally and taste-wise.

pipers_dream

I love my cast iron ware to cook with--I have the old fashioned granny stuff.

ShetlandPony

Aeternum is the brand of my new ceramic-coated pans. They work well and are super-easy to clean. Also pretty, as I got red & white ones! My hubby did the research on safety and quality, and ordered them from Amazon. I think I saw them on sale at Macy's, too.

My pyrex glass storage containers have plastic lids, and so do my stainless steel water bottles, but I make sure the plastic does not touch the food or water. Also, I use the kind of water bottles with a lid that you take off before drinking, not the ones where you drink through a plastic spout. Still, I would prefer to have no plastic.

This is a great topic!

peggy_j

@ceanna, yes, I made the big switch. Pre-BC I often ate organic but after BC I eat organic as much as possible, and cleaned up my home (personal care products, cleaning products etc). Even aside from my personal health, I like the idea that I'm not adding more chemicals to the planet. i.e. farmer workers get a huge exposure to pesticides. I also swapped out a lot of kitchen things to avoid BPA, so goodbye Mr. Coffee and hello Stainless Steel percolator. I tossed the plastic leftover containers for the nice glass ones--that felt like an upgrade. I treated it as a little project and so it was fun, in a way, to learn and make these choices. FWIW, even though there are BPA-free plastics, I try to avoid them when I can, since data is starting to show that other chemicals can leach from those. ;( And, I know some of the household cleaning products can be spendy but you can also use simple stuff, like baking soda and vinegar (or grandma's favorite Bon Ami). All these "green" cleaning things are in vogue now, so you can probably find a lot of info of DIY "recipes" online. I mean, I think I just saw an article in the Martha Stewart magazine and she's hardly a hippee.

@lily--can you share some links that discuss how microwaves change the nutrients in our food? I read an article that compared the nutritional value of diff. foods based on diff. methods (boiling vs. baking vs. micro etc) and microwaving was surprisingly not the bad guy. I can't find that article now to see how they did the science of measuring the nutrients, but I did find this related article in the NYTimes

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/health/17real.ht...

Some of the NYtimes content requires a subscription so here, I'll just post the article.

The Claim: Microwave Ovens Kill Nutrients in Food

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By ANAHAD O'CONNOR

Published: October 17, 2006

THE FACTS They are a staple in kitchens everywhere, but for about as long as microwave ovens have been around, people have suspected that the radiation they emit can destroy nutrients in food and vegetables.

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Leif Parsons

Readers' Opinions

Forum: Fitness and Nutrition

According to most studies, however, the reality is quite the opposite. Every cooking method can destroy vitamins and other nutrients in food. The factors that determine the extent are how long the food is cooked, how much liquid is used and the cooking temperature.

Since microwave ovens often use less heat than conventional methods and involve shorter cooking times, they generally have the least destructive effects. The most heat-sensitive nutrients are water-soluble vitamins, like folic acid and vitamins B and C, which are common in vegetables.

In studies at Cornell University, scientists looked at the effects of cooking on water-soluble vitamins in vegetables and found that spinach retained nearly all its folate when cooked in a microwave, but lost about 77 percent when cooked on a stove. They also found that bacon cooked by microwave has significantly lower levels of cancer-causing nitrosamines than conventionally cooked bacon.

When it comes to vegetables, adding water can greatly accelerate the loss of nutrients. One study published in The Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture in 2003 found that broccoli cooked by microwave — and immersed in water — loses about 74 percent to 97 percent of its antioxidants. When steamed or cooked without water, the broccoli retained most of its nutrients.

THE BOTTOM LINE Microwave ovens generally do not destroy nutrients in food.

new2bc

I read somewhere to avoid plastic flip flops which increase our estrogen levels. I will try my best not to microwave anymore.

ceanna

I bought ceramic coated pans and love them!  They cook great and clean up easy; just have to be careful about using non scratching utensils and don't put in dishwasher.  Not sure I'm ready to give up microwave yet, but using glass--no more plastic!!  One step at a time!!  Love all your suggestions.  Keep them coming!  Thanks.

labelle

Happy to read the comments about the ceramic coated pans. My next upgrade: out w the Teflon frying pans in with the no stick ceramic. This is ongoing process for me. It's just too expensive and time consuming to throw it all out on a day and replace everything in one big shopping spree, but I'm working hard on it because I think it is important..

luckylegs64

I'm really enjoying this conversation! Thanks everyone! The only thing to add is "far infared"sauna to sweat the toxins out that we all come into contact with. Has anyone heard of this? My Plastic surgeon/functional medicine doctor recommended it.

peggy_j

On the question of whether the microwave oven deplete nutrients in food, the current July/August 2015 issue of Vegetarian Times has one page article on this topic. Their answer is No and quotes a few scientific studies.

I can't find a version online, sorry, but FYI in case you see the magazine in the store or at your library. Here's their website if you want a peek to see their general philosophy. If you go to the tab "Veg 101" and then select "Ask a Doctor" they have topics like how to eat to avoid BC and whether to avoid BPA.

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

Of course, everyone can decide what works for her but FYI. I'm still avoiding plastic in the microwave and I stand away from it while it's on. But if people found studies that show the opposite, I'd like to see them.

abigail48

may not hurt the food, but does hurt us with the microwaves

Momine

Peggy, everything credible I have read also says that microwave ovens and the food cooked in them are entirely safe and fine.

leggo

Tastes like crap though. Don't you think?

abigail48

green tea? not at all. probably depends on what kind. I find my decaf organic is fresh tasting. I don't savor it or look forward to the 2 cups daily, but it is very thirst-quenching

Momine

Leggo, microwave food? I am not fond of it myself, so I do not have a microwave oven. We have a small kitchen with few electrical outlets, so I try to keep appliances to a minimum. The microwave must be nifty for heating leftovers and other such, but I really get along just fine without one.

leggo

Abigail, not green tea; microwaved food.

leggo

I can relate Momine. The only reason it's in my kitchen is because there's a spot built in that would look pretty stupid empty.....and to heat up my coffee.