Your Daily Products and Infertility
If you follow me on IG, then there's a prettyyyy good chance that you already know what I'm gonna say here. BUT! The hard truth is- it needs to be said! If you care about your fertility on any level, then I highly encourage you to not only read this, but then take action!
Unfortunately, studies have shown that a lot of mainstream products that exist on the market today are not the *best* for your health. The list includes, but defff is not limited to: makeup, body care, skin care, cleaning products, baby care, etc.
First of all, before I get really into this, I want you to know that I'm not saying or sharing any of this to scare you. I will definitely admit that when you start down the rabbit hole, it can get heavy and intimidating FAST. If that happens, take a break and then come back. Remember that you don't have to make a million changes in one day. Starting small is my biggest piece of advice.
We are in this together and we'll start small.
If this topic has sparked your interest, I would encourage your next step to be downloading the EWG App to your phone. EWG (Environmental Working Group) is a company that's dedicated to bringing you groundbreaking information, resources, and research to help you make educated decisions when trying to live a healthier lifestyle.
AKA- You can scan the barcode on a product and it will give you the toxicity level of that product. IT'S AMAZING.
From this app alone you will be able to gain so much insight into the toxicity level of your own daily products. There's a full breakdown explaining why a product got the rating that it did and let me tell you- once you start scanning and reading, you will be SHOCKED.
Now what the heck does this have to do with your fertility? Well, I'm glad you asked. Studies have also shown that the products that you use can have an impact on your fertility. Why? Because certain toxic chemicals and ingredients can cause an imbalance in your hormones. And don't we all know the importance of hormones and fertility!
Think about it this way- your skin is your biggest organ. Everything that you put on your skin, impacts your body in same way. Some of the harsh ingredients may aggravate your skin and cause a rash, but other ingredients can cause more severe damage such as hormone imbalance etc.
As soon as I caught a whiff of this information, I immediately began clearing out the toxic products from our home and I'd LOVE to walk you through that, but I'll do so in a separate post so as not to overwhelm you.
But when I began trying to switch our products, I began to see a trend of something that was HIGHLY disappointing. Some products would have "clean" or "non-toxic" written on the label, but then have fragrance (or other harmful ingredients) on the ingredient list. The company was green washing their products to make them APPEAR to be better, but in all actuality they weren't!
For example, I ditched the regular hand soap and started using Mrs. Meyer's products because I thought they were a clean company- or at least their label said so. Well, it turns out that they may be a cleanER company than others, but their rating was still a 5 or 6 (out of 10) on EWG.
When it comes to finding a clean company that truly is CLEAN, my best piece of advice is to research before you buy and download the EWG app. Even if you're in a rush to grab a few things from Target on the way home, scanning items in the store to find their toxicity level will help you to make a better and more educated purchase than to pick whatever may be the cheapest option.
If you need a further push to make a lifestyle switch, then I want to direct you to the direction sheet our clinic gave us for the day of our transfer.
The final paragraph said, "These products emit significant amounts of VOC's: cosmetics, perfume, cologne, and cigarettes. These VOC's will affect your eggs and embryos in our labs. As such, we ask that you AND your partner, who will be with you in the transfer room, to avoid these products on the day of your embryo transfer."
So if those products will have an affect on the embryos and eggs in the embryologist lab, then imagine the affect they would have on your eggs, hormones, and fertility every single day.
And obviously they don't bring up detergent or cleaning products because you won't be bringing those things into the transfer room, but I can guarantee you that those items have just a strong affect as those previously listed. The fact that they also state the use of products used by your partner also goes to show that this needs to be a family effort!
If this has sparked your interest at all, I highly encourage you to do additional research and to find what works best for you and your family. I'm just trying to start the conversation and scratch the surface. We offer all natural products in our shop because I feel passionately about this and I want to HELP your body, not cause harm.
From here, it's up to YOU to figure out where you stand and what you need to do moving forward, but please know that I am here to help however I can.
xoxo
SAB