One of the reasons I founded XL Vita almost two years ago was to take the guessing game out of alternative health. I planned to do that by sifting and sorting through all the products out there and only offering the best of the best to my clients. Two years later and a lot of research later, I am pickier today than I have ever been.
It’s Friday and I am almost done researching the next wave of personal care products to add to my store. I’ve been wanting to add missing components like aluminum-free deodorants and sulfate-free shampoo. I’m also considering adding the only 100%certified natural hair color on the market. I don’t dye my hair but know many people who do so what not provide a safer alternative?
With health being my passion, I know that the personal care products you use on your body are also extremely important to your overall health. You could easily argue that what you put on your skin is equally if not more important than what you put in your body. I’m not suggesting in any way that you should stop eating healthy balanced meals. What I am saying is what I’ve been saying for a long time. What you see on the outside is a direct reflection of what’s going on inside. At least with the foods you eat, the enzymes in your saliva and stomach help break them down and flush them out of your body.
Did you know that digestion begins when you see or smell food not when you actually start eating? When you see or smell food, your salivary glands release saliva to begin the digestive process. The saliva then signals the release of other enzymes in your digestive tract and your esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine all play a critical role. Your body then uses the nutrients as energy or as raw materials to repair and build tissue or to perform other necessary functions. Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
When you lather product on your skin or hair, the enzymes in your saliva and stomach that help break down and flush food out of your body aren’t there. Many of the ingredients actually get absorbed into your bloodstream while others just accumulate in your fat cells. To make matters worse, we use multiple products every day. It is said that the average woman uses twelve products a day while the average man uses six. Since your skin is the body’s largest organ, why put toxic ingredients on or in it?
In the next week or so, I will have great new personal care products to share with you. It’s taken me a while because I am looking up every single ingredient in the shampoos, conditioners, and deodorants to see if they are safe. I am also contacting manufactures to question their use of certain ingredients like “fragrance” in their products.
If you are interested in learning about some of the top ingredients to avoid in personal care products, check out the health article I wrote the other day titled What Toxic Ingredients are in your Personal Care Products.
Have a happy and healthy weekend.
Caroline