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Did you know we are inundated with hormonal disruptors in our environment every day? Ever wonder why women and now men can’t seem to get a handle on their hormonal health and live a balanced sane life? Many of the hormonal disruptors cause the human body to increase production of certain hormones; decrease production of others; imitate hormones; turn one hormone into another; interfere with hormone signaling; tell cells to die prematurely; compete with essential nutrients; bind to essential hormones and accumulate in organs that produce hormones. Wow! That’s complete hormonal imbalance and it no wonder doctors and hormonal specialists cannot get a handle on treating patients with imbalances effectively.
Let’s take a look at the top hormonal disruptors and how to avoid them.
BPA
This is the chemical found in plastic water bottles. Drinking from BPA-containing bottles whether they are water bottles or baby bottles (God-forbid!) they will imitate hormones in your body. BPA has been linked to everything from breast and others cancers to reproductive problems, obesity, early puberty and heart disease, and according to government tests. The consensus is 93% of Americans have BPA in their bodies.
How to Avoid BPA
Avoid cans lined with BPA. Avoid plastics with PC stamped on the bottle or stamped with #7 on them. Buy a water filter and pour it into a stainless steel or glass container for safer drinking water.
Dioxin
This one is a bad one. Dioxin disrupts how female and male sex hormones signal throughout the body. Dioxin lasts a very long time in the body wrecking havoc and will lower sperm count in males during their reproductive years. Dioxin is a powerful carcinogen, so it causes cancer and most likely linked to hormonal cancers of the breast, uterus, ovaries and prostate.
How to Avoid Dioxin
Very difficult to avoid and is found meat, fish, eggs and milk, and is very prevalent throughout the American food supply. Maybe going vegan will help reduce one’s contact with this dangerous chemical.
Atrazine
This herbicide turns male frogs into more feminized frogs. That means male frogs and lay eggs, so what do you think it’s doing to males in America? Anyone want to tackle that subject? Used on most of the corn crops in America and then it seeps into the ground water affecting the rest of the non-corn eating population. But corn is used in many different foods, so read your labels! Atrazine has been linked to breast tumors, delayed puberty and prostate inflammation in animals, and some research has linked it to prostate cancer in people.
How to Avoid Atrazine
Buy organic food and buy a water filter for your home.
Phthalates
This chemical is a cell killer. It induces death of our cells, even though millions of cells die in our body every day, we don’t need to help it kill more cells than necessary. So what cells does it target? Well men, it kills your balls, I mean your testicles. Phthalates are linked to hormone changes, lower sperm count, less mobile sperm, birth defects in the male reproductive system, obesity, diabetes and thyroid irregularities. Men, if you are wanting to have children this is one chemical you want to avoid.
How to Avoid Phthalates
Stop using plastic containers. Don’t wrap your food in plastic that contains #3 on the label. If a product is labelled ‘fragrance’ this avoid it. This is a catch-all term to let you know if contains phthalates.
Perchlorate
This is a component of rocket fuel. We all need a boost sometimes, but not like this! Found in produce and milk are the most common places. When perchlorate gets into your body it competes with the nutrient iodine, which the thyroid gland needs to make thyroid hormones. Basically, this means that if you ingest too much of it you can end up altering your thyroid hormone balance. Also, it’s very bad for young children as it can alter their endocrine health.
How to Avoid Perchlorate
To reduce your intake, install a reverse osmosis water filter in your home and office. In your food, it’s almost impossible to avoid it altogether. So going organic and vegan maybe ways to reduce your risk to this chemical.
Fire Retardants
Swedish scientists discovered in human breast milk and found in to polar bears. This tells you it’s found everywhere! These chemicals can imitate thyroid hormones in our bodies and disrupt their activity. That can lead to lower IQ, among other significant health effects. These types of chemicals are like a nuclear meltdown. The damage is going to last to decades and those born today will be affected for many years to come. You can thank mankind for these chemicals and their total disregard for the safety and health of the human race.
How to Avoid Fire Retardants
Almost impossible to avoid. Replace all your filters with HEPA filters even down to your vacuum cleaner as your carpets most likely have it in them.
Lead
Can you believe we are still talking about lead in this day and age? Yep, this exists. Lead harms children and of course all adults. Lead causes neurological damage. including permanent brain damage, lowered IQ, hearing loss, miscarriage, premature birth, increased blood pressure, kidney damage and nervous system problems. But few people realize that one other way that lead may affect your body is by disrupting your hormones. In animals, lead has been found to lower sex hormone levels. Research has also shown that lead can disrupt the hormone signaling that regulates the body’s major stress system (called the HPA axis).
How to Avoid Lead
Keep your house clean. Remove old paint and buy a water filter. Eat organically, we healthy food with natural minerals like calcium and magnesium can help remove lead from the body. Using cilantro and chlorella are green foods that bind heavy metals and removes them safely from the body.
Arsenic
Arsenic is found in your food and drinking water. Just like in the movies if you get enough of it, will kill you. In smaller amounts, arsenic can cause skin, bladder and lung cancer. Basically, bad news. Less well known: Arsenic interferes with normal hormone functioning in the glucocorticoid system that regulates how our bodies process sugars and carbohydrates. Well, disrupting the glucocorticoid system has been linked to weight gain/loss, protein wasting, immunosuppression, insulin resistance (which can lead to diabetes), osteoporosis, growth retardation and high blood pressure.
How to Avoid Arsenic
Simply buy a water filter and eat organic as much as possible.
Mercury
This is not the car brand Ford discontinued a few years back, it’s a dangerous heavy metal. Mercury has a half life of 40 years, which means we will never get rid of it, but we can reduce our exposure. Pregnant women are the most at risk from the toxic effects of mercury, since the metal is known to concentrate in the fetal brain and can interfere with brain development. Mercury is also known to bind directly to one particular hormone that regulates women’s menstrual cycle and ovulation, interfering with normal signaling pathways. Mercury can lead to diabetes as it damage the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
How to Avoid Mercury
If you want to eat seafood, limit it to organic salmon and organically farm raised trout. Our oceans are full of mercury so you sushi lovers might want to pick something else to eat.
Perfluorinated chemicals (Non-Stick Cooking Surfaces)
99 percent of Americans have these chemicals in their bodies. One chemical known as PFOA does not breakdown in the human body or the environment.Talk about killing the planet! You can ban this substance and it will still be found in generations to come. PFOA exposure has been linked to decreased sperm quality, low birth weight, kidney disease, thyroid disease and high cholesterol, among other health issues.
How to Avoid Perfluorinated Chemicals
Avoid non-stick pans and water resistant clothing, furniture and carpets.
Organophosphate Pesticides
These are chemicals which are the most common pesticides that target the nervous system of insects. These interfere with the way testosterone communicates with cells, lowering testosterone and altering thyroid hormone levels.
How to Avoid Organophosphate Pesticides
Buy organic produce and wash your fruits and vegetables before eating to reduce exposure.
Glycol Esters
Ever tell a man to grow a pair of balls? If he’s exposed to glycol esters, he’ll have small ones and growing a manly pair will be out of the question. The EU says these can be responsible for damage to fertility and the unborn child. Glycol esters are found in common solvents in paints, cleaning products, brake fluid and cosmetics. Check the paint in your child’s room as this can cause allergies and asthma.
How to Avoid Glycol Esters
Avoid products with ingredients such as 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) and methoxydiglycol (DEGME). Read the labels on paint and household cleaning products.
Let’s take a look at the top hormonal disruptors and how to avoid them.
BPA
This is the chemical found in plastic water bottles. Drinking from BPA-containing bottles whether they are water bottles or baby bottles (God-forbid!) they will imitate hormones in your body. BPA has been linked to everything from breast and others cancers to reproductive problems, obesity, early puberty and heart disease, and according to government tests. The consensus is 93% of Americans have BPA in their bodies.
How to Avoid BPA
Avoid cans lined with BPA. Avoid plastics with PC stamped on the bottle or stamped with #7 on them. Buy a water filter and pour it into a stainless steel or glass container for safer drinking water.
Dioxin
This one is a bad one. Dioxin disrupts how female and male sex hormones signal throughout the body. Dioxin lasts a very long time in the body wrecking havoc and will lower sperm count in males during their reproductive years. Dioxin is a powerful carcinogen, so it causes cancer and most likely linked to hormonal cancers of the breast, uterus, ovaries and prostate.
How to Avoid Dioxin
Very difficult to avoid and is found meat, fish, eggs and milk, and is very prevalent throughout the American food supply. Maybe going vegan will help reduce one’s contact with this dangerous chemical.
Atrazine
This herbicide turns male frogs into more feminized frogs. That means male frogs and lay eggs, so what do you think it’s doing to males in America? Anyone want to tackle that subject? Used on most of the corn crops in America and then it seeps into the ground water affecting the rest of the non-corn eating population. But corn is used in many different foods, so read your labels! Atrazine has been linked to breast tumors, delayed puberty and prostate inflammation in animals, and some research has linked it to prostate cancer in people.
How to Avoid Atrazine
Buy organic food and buy a water filter for your home.
Phthalates
This chemical is a cell killer. It induces death of our cells, even though millions of cells die in our body every day, we don’t need to help it kill more cells than necessary. So what cells does it target? Well men, it kills your balls, I mean your testicles. Phthalates are linked to hormone changes, lower sperm count, less mobile sperm, birth defects in the male reproductive system, obesity, diabetes and thyroid irregularities. Men, if you are wanting to have children this is one chemical you want to avoid.
How to Avoid Phthalates
Stop using plastic containers. Don’t wrap your food in plastic that contains #3 on the label. If a product is labelled ‘fragrance’ this avoid it. This is a catch-all term to let you know if contains phthalates.
Perchlorate
This is a component of rocket fuel. We all need a boost sometimes, but not like this! Found in produce and milk are the most common places. When perchlorate gets into your body it competes with the nutrient iodine, which the thyroid gland needs to make thyroid hormones. Basically, this means that if you ingest too much of it you can end up altering your thyroid hormone balance. Also, it’s very bad for young children as it can alter their endocrine health.
How to Avoid Perchlorate
To reduce your intake, install a reverse osmosis water filter in your home and office. In your food, it’s almost impossible to avoid it altogether. So going organic and vegan maybe ways to reduce your risk to this chemical.
Fire Retardants
Swedish scientists discovered in human breast milk and found in to polar bears. This tells you it’s found everywhere! These chemicals can imitate thyroid hormones in our bodies and disrupt their activity. That can lead to lower IQ, among other significant health effects. These types of chemicals are like a nuclear meltdown. The damage is going to last to decades and those born today will be affected for many years to come. You can thank mankind for these chemicals and their total disregard for the safety and health of the human race.
How to Avoid Fire Retardants
Almost impossible to avoid. Replace all your filters with HEPA filters even down to your vacuum cleaner as your carpets most likely have it in them.
Lead
Can you believe we are still talking about lead in this day and age? Yep, this exists. Lead harms children and of course all adults. Lead causes neurological damage. including permanent brain damage, lowered IQ, hearing loss, miscarriage, premature birth, increased blood pressure, kidney damage and nervous system problems. But few people realize that one other way that lead may affect your body is by disrupting your hormones. In animals, lead has been found to lower sex hormone levels. Research has also shown that lead can disrupt the hormone signaling that regulates the body’s major stress system (called the HPA axis).
How to Avoid Lead
Keep your house clean. Remove old paint and buy a water filter. Eat organically, we healthy food with natural minerals like calcium and magnesium can help remove lead from the body. Using cilantro and chlorella are green foods that bind heavy metals and removes them safely from the body.
Arsenic
Arsenic is found in your food and drinking water. Just like in the movies if you get enough of it, will kill you. In smaller amounts, arsenic can cause skin, bladder and lung cancer. Basically, bad news. Less well known: Arsenic interferes with normal hormone functioning in the glucocorticoid system that regulates how our bodies process sugars and carbohydrates. Well, disrupting the glucocorticoid system has been linked to weight gain/loss, protein wasting, immunosuppression, insulin resistance (which can lead to diabetes), osteoporosis, growth retardation and high blood pressure.
How to Avoid Arsenic
Simply buy a water filter and eat organic as much as possible.
Mercury
This is not the car brand Ford discontinued a few years back, it’s a dangerous heavy metal. Mercury has a half life of 40 years, which means we will never get rid of it, but we can reduce our exposure. Pregnant women are the most at risk from the toxic effects of mercury, since the metal is known to concentrate in the fetal brain and can interfere with brain development. Mercury is also known to bind directly to one particular hormone that regulates women’s menstrual cycle and ovulation, interfering with normal signaling pathways. Mercury can lead to diabetes as it damage the cells in the pancreas that produce insulin.
How to Avoid Mercury
If you want to eat seafood, limit it to organic salmon and organically farm raised trout. Our oceans are full of mercury so you sushi lovers might want to pick something else to eat.
Perfluorinated chemicals (Non-Stick Cooking Surfaces)
99 percent of Americans have these chemicals in their bodies. One chemical known as PFOA does not breakdown in the human body or the environment.Talk about killing the planet! You can ban this substance and it will still be found in generations to come. PFOA exposure has been linked to decreased sperm quality, low birth weight, kidney disease, thyroid disease and high cholesterol, among other health issues.
How to Avoid Perfluorinated Chemicals
Avoid non-stick pans and water resistant clothing, furniture and carpets.
Organophosphate Pesticides
These are chemicals which are the most common pesticides that target the nervous system of insects. These interfere with the way testosterone communicates with cells, lowering testosterone and altering thyroid hormone levels.
How to Avoid Organophosphate Pesticides
Buy organic produce and wash your fruits and vegetables before eating to reduce exposure.
Glycol Esters
Ever tell a man to grow a pair of balls? If he’s exposed to glycol esters, he’ll have small ones and growing a manly pair will be out of the question. The EU says these can be responsible for damage to fertility and the unborn child. Glycol esters are found in common solvents in paints, cleaning products, brake fluid and cosmetics. Check the paint in your child’s room as this can cause allergies and asthma.
How to Avoid Glycol Esters
Avoid products with ingredients such as 2-butoxyethanol (EGBE) and methoxydiglycol (DEGME). Read the labels on paint and household cleaning products.
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