Allergies. Dizzy spells. Heart palpitations. Sleep disturbances. Endocrine disorders. These are but a few of the symptoms I now suffer from. A once healthy child and adult, I must now be very careful of the products I come into contact with.
In my late 30′s I was living a very unhealthy lifestyle, yet maintained a very fit body. My primary care physician was amazed at my lung capacity and ability to run 3 miles almost every morning despite smoking over a pack of cigarettes every day. I quit smoking almost four years ago. Suddenly, I began experiencing a multitude of symptoms, among them muscle aches & cramps, severe headaches, insomnia, lethargy, increased allergies, and weight gain. I had to wonder why, at 40 years of age, was I suddenly feeling OLD.
So what were the contributing factors to my current condition?
- 20+ years of smoking and spending time in smoke-filled environments. (DUH!)
- Years spent cleaning my home and others’ with chlorine bleach and almost every commercial product available.
- Air fresheners and scented candles at all times.
- Perfumes and colognes, from discount to high-end department stores.
- Gallons of bottled water and food re-heated in microwavable plastic containers.
- General exposure to chemicals “approved” for consumer use, but I was (then) blissfully unaware of.
All of the above sounded good at the time. Well, except for the cigarettes; that was just stubborn stupidity on my part! But the rest was just a part of life, perfectly acceptable because the government wouldn’t let anything seriously harmful into the hands of consumers, right?
We are living in a very toxic environment, and not just in crowded urban areas and manufacturing locales. Our once safe havens have become dangerous by the “simple” use of cleaning products, protective coatings on clothing and furniture (think “stain-resistant”), pesticides, and even personal care products. Our homes are practically airtight to protect us from the elements and maximize energy efficiency, trapping and concentrating these chemicals in the very air we – and our families – breathe.
Read this article to get an eye-opening view on just a few of the things you can change or avoid altogether. Contact me if you’d like to find out more about how to reduce the toxicity of your home environment.
The Top 10 Toxic Products You Don’t Need on Shine
**Originally posted by Bernadette Cooper at bernadettecooper.com/blog on February 22, 2010**
