Paraben Free: What's the Deal with Parabens

The reason for this post is to shed light on the health risks of paraben use. You may ask, why parabens? I chose to discuss parabens because it is an active ingredient that is widely used and can be found in shampoos, moisturizers, shaving gels, cleansing gels, topical pharmaceuticals, makeup and even toothpaste. The list can go on and on and it may seem that using products with parabens is inevitable; however, not only can you limit the amount of products you use that contain parabens but, you can also find safer alternatives.

On a sidenote: it is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (October) and there has been great discussion of parabens and it's carcinogenic effects especially with breast cancer - so, I was inspired and felt the need to discuss the issue of this parabens.

Onto the good stuff.

What are Parabens?

In the most simple terms, parabens are preservatives meaning that they are used in personal care products to enable its shelf life. Parabens aid in preventing and reducing microbial growth in these products and are deemed to be safe to use.

Why you should avoid using Parabens?

Parabens are seen to mimic the hormone estrogen. Its estrogenic activity is what leads people to think that it is linked to cancer emphasizing it's specific relation to breast cancer. These hormone disruptions seen to be caused by parabens can lead to long lasting health effects and should be taken seriously. Since increased levels of estrogen is linked to breast cancer then, who is to say that little paraben exposure isn't altering hormone function enough to cause many other health related issues other than cancer such as skin sensitivities and hormonal imbalances.

My thoughts:

The skin is the largest organ in the body. If we know that putting something on our skin will cause something to change and function differently internally and that there is a chance that it will have hidden side effects, why would we want to use it? If it goes on your skin, it can get in your blood. If we are putting toxic things on our skin, we are also feeding our bodies with these toxins.