How Do Beauty Products Affect ADHD?
How Do Beauty Products Affect ADHD?
We all want to look and feel beautiful, but ignoring the ingredients of your favourite beauty products, even those labeled ‘natural’ or ‘organic’, could result in long-term and serious health issues!
Your beauty products may smell incredible, make your hair feel softer, your skin smoother and leave you looking fabulous. However – if you’re not paying attention to the ingredients, you’re probably exposing yourself to a toxic cocktail of chemicals EVERY SINGLE DAY!
Recently an exponential rise in health problems such as cancer, autoimmunity, infertility, hormonal imbalances, birth defects, obesity, mental health, autism and learning difficulties has arisen.
These problems have been linked to exposure to chemicals and often those chemicals are found in beauty products.
Now scientific research suggests exposure to these types of toxic chemicals may be a contributing factor in disorders such as ADHD, autism, and learning disabilities. Small children and babies are particularly vulnerable to chemical exposures as they are smaller and their biological systems are still developing. In utero, during foetal development, even minuscule levels of toxins at critical times, can impact a child’s brain and physical health causing disruption to brain development and allowing symptoms of ADHD to occur.
The Endocrine Society states: “numerous neurotransmitter systems, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, glutamate, and others, are sensitive to endocrine disruption. Exposure to even small doses of endocrine disruptors can wreak subtle or serious havoc with the human endocrine system, which is highly sensitive.”
Sadly, most people assume their products have been tested for long-term safety and would never dream they could cause negative health effects.
But did you know
1) The cosmetics industry is self-regulating, meaning those profiting from the sales of a product also determine its safety?
2) No health studies or testing are required to be carried out prior to selling cosmetic products – the chemicals used being deemed safe until proven otherwise?
3) Perfume, one seemingly innocent ingredient, combines hundreds of untested chemicals that companies are not required to disclose and can be one of the most toxic of all beauty products?
Our skin, the body’s largest organ, will absorb 60% of the chemicals placed on it directly into the blood stream in just 6 seconds.
Your skin is a mouth! But considering our skin does not have digestive enzymes or a liver to break down these chemicals, putting them on your skin is potentially more dangerous than eating them!
Your body is designed to handle a certain level of toxins, but the reality is there are 1000s of untested chemicals used today and our bodies become overwhelmed by the constant onslaught.
The absolute best thing you can do for your physical and mental health is to use natural, chemical free, preferably fully certified organic.
But don’t be fooled! Some products try to trick you into thinking they’re ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ by displaying these words on their labels. This is allowed if there are some natural or organic ingredients contained in the product, but it doesn’t mean there aren’t nasty, toxic chemicals hiding in there as well! Always read the label to check first. I recommend The Chemical Maze app which lists all the chemicals and ingredients for food and personal care products and let’s you know whether they are a problem to your health or not.
I’ve been checking labels and only buying products that are chemical free and organic for quite some time now. I’ve ditched anything containing artificial fragrance or perfume and instead opt for beautiful, natural products that smell divine and I know I can trust. I simply love using products fragranced naturally with essential oils for all the therapeutic benefits they bestow on a physical and emotional level and simply the joy they bring as soon as you open them up and breathe them in.
You can read more about research into toxins and how they affect the brain in the Mind Disrupted Report or in the book Our Stolen Future.
The author, Vivian Dunstan, is Founder & CEO of ADHD Support Australia, ADDCA trained ADHD Coach, facilitator of Parenting Children with ADHD – a 6-week online course, certified PEERS Social Skills for Adolescents and Young Adults program facilitator, Digital Addiction & Wellness Educator and facilitator of 6-week online Digital Detox Program, non-practising teacher, woman with ADHD and an ADHD parent.
