Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Day 16 - small amounts of chemicals add up

Check your sunscreen - if there are a bunch of unpronounceable ingredients, it is probably a bit toxic to use. Of course, sunscreen is important, so look for a natural brand. Aubrey Organics, Kiss My Face, and Burt's Bees all make some acceptable versions of sunscreens. Don't use a spray version because those have even more chemicals.

I realize that there is a lot of conflicting information floating around the importance (or unimportance) of worrying about ingredients. Many people argue that the amount of dangerous chemicals is so small that it couldn't possibly affect us. I might agree with that logic if these small amounts of chemicals were not present in a majority of products that many of us consume and/or put on our skin.

Example: For breakfast, we eat a granola bar with some type of preservative.
                Then, we take a shower using tap water, regular soap, shampoo, conditioner, etc
                Next, moisturize with lotion that has a list of ingredients at least 12 long (many unrecognizable)
                Eat some skittles
                Have some lunch out somewhere, not sure what the restaurant uses
                Put on some sunscreen
                Swim in a pool
                Afternoon fruit snack, non-organic
                Frozen meal for dinner after a busy day
                trip out to get ice-cream

All of the things on the list above can happen during the course of a fun summer day. I am not saying to avoid fun summer days, not at all. I love fun summer days. I love ice-cream, from any place. I love candy with artificial colors. I am just saying that we should all be aware of what is going into our bodies and try not let small amounts of chemicals build up too much. I have chosen to start with skin products because it seems a bit easier than eating clean.

I hope to try clean eating for a month too, but I think I am much less likely to make it.

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