Wellness Wednesday: Is Your Shampoo Making You Fat? ~ Granolaville

That shampoo is going straight to your ass.

At this point I think most of us know that we are what we eat. You can't put crap in your body and expect for your cells and organs to somehow miraculously take that crap and make you into a healthy, lean, and fit person.

Mother nature just doesn't work that way.

So let's just say you've followed what your favorite health guru has told you. Get moderate daily exercise, eat lean meats, minimal dairy, consume healthy fats, very few processed or refined sugars (if any), get your protein, and of course EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!

You've switched to mostly organic produce, grass-fed meats, free-range eggs, gluten-free grains and read every book with the word paleo in it.....jeez, I'm exhausted just typing all this!

So now you wait....and wait....but the pounds and that extra roll of flab on your (insert squishy body part) has yet to tighten, your clothes aren't any looser, and let's be honest....you still kinda feel like shit. What is going on?!

I'm going to tell you a little secret that I discovered over the last year that I attribute to losing the extra 20 lbs I didn't even realize was excessive.

Where did all this fat come from?!

I've always been pretty fit. As a kid I was either in dance class or playing a sport. But becoming a mom at 17 changed all that. My focus became my son, school, and work. Physical exercise and nutritional eating weren't even on my radar. Instead, I ate WAY too much fast food and the only exercise I got was hustling up and down the aisles of the restaurant I worked at.

While the constant walking from my job helped keep extra weight at bay, once I become a full-time mom, the scale mysteriously added on 20-30 pounds over my pre-baby weight.

Then I had two more kids. The funny thing was before I had my third son I never thought of myself as "fat" or even overweight. I just thought I was a curvy Black woman. To be honest I thought I looked good, but the reality was I had no idea what my real body was supposed to look like.

After Nolan was born I began to embrace a more natural lifestyle. I decided that I was going to try and eliminate all the chemicals from my life. That not only meant improving what I ate to avoid pesticides and genetically engineered food, but I also had to look at what I was putting on my body.

I removed all the shampoos, conditioners, hair relaxers and cosmetics from my home that included cancer linked sulfates and other toxic chemicals.What I didn't know was that changing my shampoo could have a profound effect on my weight.

The Dangers of Parabens

Since changing the products we use in combination with eating well, and extended breast feeding I've lost 30 pounds that I didn't even realize were "extra".

Now you are probably wondering how could my hair care products help me gain weight? One word: Parabens.

Since the 1920's parabens have been used in cosmetics to prevent to growth of mold, extending the products shelf-life and of course making companies more money. The most common are methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, isopropyl-, and butylparaben.

Each time we use sunscreens, moisturizers, make-up, body washes, toothpaste, shampoos and conditioners (not to mention artificial birth controls) parabens are being absorbed into the largest organ on our body, our skin.

The problem with parabens is that "laboratory studies indicate that [they] are estrogenic, meaning they can mimic the hormone estrogen, disrupting normal function of the hormone system."

But estrogen is something that occurs naturally in our body, how can it be bad, right?

The hormone disruptor created by parabens, referred to as xenoestrogens (estrogen mimickers in the form of chemicals) have a totally different effect on the body then what we create. While it is true that naturally occurring estrogen, produced mostly in the ovaries of women, is responsible for the onset of puberty and fertility, xenoestragens have been linked as a cause of cancer, infertility, and you guessed it---weight gain.

One of estrogen's major functions is to promote weight gain by converting calories into fat. Research presented in the American Journal of Physiology indicates that xenoestrogens have the potential to create an enhanced environment for our bodies to store fat and increase or cravings for sugar.

Who knew that when your shampoo label said "may increase volume" it wasn't just talking about your hair!

Since xenoestrogens are not biodegradeable they accumulate in the body over time, are stored in fat cells, and grow larger the more weight you gain. Think about how many times you've just shampooed, conditioned, rinsed and repeated over your life time!

What to do now?

While we can't avoid everything that contains parabens, we can limit our exposure by choosing skin and hair care products that are made from organic ingredients. Wouldn't you rather use a product that is fresh like your food, rather than one that has been pumped with chemicals to allow it to sit on shelves for years?

There are plenty of products on the market that WON'T make you get estrogen overload. The Environmental Working Group's site can give you the low-down on your favorites to see how safe they really are.

Try making this small change and see if it has any effect on the scale.

I would LOVE to hear your feedback or experiences about reducing chemicals and weight loss. Please share in the comments section below!

Keeping Clean (without toxins) in Granolaville,