Healthy at Home: Where Do I Start?

When starting down this new road of cleaner household products, I honestly had no clue where I needed to start.  It was all very overwhelming to me, and I kept putting it all off because I was questioning, "Where the heck do I start?"

 Last Spring, I attended an online seminar regarding PCOS.  One of the workshops was on the body products that we use, and I remembered hearing something about parabens being harmful to girls with PCOS.  So that's exactly where I started.  I started researching parabens.  I mean, what exactly are parabens?!  I had no idea.

Basically, they're preservatives that are used to prevent bacteria and mold growth.  That could be a good thing, but they are also endocrine disruptors.  They're most commonly found in shampoo, conditioner, face wash, body wash, body lotion, and foundation.

Um...endocrine disruptors?? I do NOT need anymore of those!  I have enough things disrupting my already-out-of-whack hormones.  I didn't need anymore help in this area.   So I immediately went to my bathroom and found everything that had parabens in the ingredients list and put it in a pile.  I knew that I had to get rid of those.

From there, I found the other ingredients that may be an endocrine disrupter:  BHA and BHT, Ethanolamines (MEA/DEA/TEA), Oxybenzone, Phthalates (DBP, DEHP, DEP and others), and Fragrance.

To be completely honest, the two groups that I found the most items in were parabens and fragrance.  There were a couple of items that did not list the ingredients on the bottles, and their website didn't list them either.  If I couldn't find that information easily accessible, then I threw it out.  I wasn't going to chance it.

 

I really couldn't believe how many products I was throwing out.  But when it came down to it, I couldn't believe how many products had toxins in them.  That's exactly what parabens are....toxins! I needed to get rid of them so that my endocrine system could get a break and {hopefully} function normally.

I'm sure you're wondering what I have replaced all these items with.  I am slowly replacing them, and I'll be sharing those items in a different post.

How many of these things do you have in your home?  Will you get rid of them and replace them with healthier options?