By now you know that high fructose corn syrup should be avoided at all costs. We know we should filter our drinking water to remove fluoride, mercury, and God knows what else. We also know dirty electricity and keeping your cell phone within an inch of your body is asking for trouble. But what about things as seemingly harmless as the fabrics that touch our skin on a nearly constant basis?
The fact is, our skin is not a solid barrier. It is a semi-permeable barrier. It lets some things in, and other things- it resists. But we are surrounded by innumerable things that the body never developed a defense against. Sometimes our epidermis is fooled by things that can be quite harmful.
Consider, the endocrine disrupters that water bottles are made of and receipts are covered with. These mimic our body’s natural hormones. They cause all manner of disruptions to our biology and we have no defense against them.
Well, these same chemicals that trick our bodies into accepting and employing them are embedded in the fabrics in our furniture, bed sheets, carpets, bath towels, and clothing. You may wash your hands every time you touch a receipt, but your shirt is made of plastics that are leaching through your skin and degrading your health.
Here are the fabrics you should avoid.
Rayon, Acetate, Nylon, Triacetate
Made from cellulose wood pulp, these fabrics require the use of caustic ammonia, soda, sulfuric acid, and acetone during manufacture.
Polyester
Polyester is made from petroleum, which it has in common with most sources of endocrine disrupters. These synthetic polymers are capable of releasing 300 times more greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide.
Acrylic fiber
This is produced using polyacrylonitrile, which is known to have similar effects to cyanide when inhaled. People exposed to acrylic have been found to suffer from nausea, anemia, jaundice, leukocytosis and kidney problems.
All of these fabrics are sold using a familiar series of value propositions. Their labels come with attractive promises like stain resistant, no ironing, fire retardant, wrinkle-free, pre-shrunk, moth repellent… and so on. And, of course, they are cheaper than natural fabrics.
Right now, you’re probably thinking that you have got a closet full of polyester, acrylic, rayon, acetate, nylon, and triacetate. You might be calculating the value of your existing wardrobe. At an average price of $30 to $60 for each piece of fabric- you may be looking at a couple grand hanging from that horizontal bar.
Add to that dismaying feeling, the sticker shock of eco-friendly clothes. Fabrics made from organic cotton, bamboo and the like are not cheap. But consider the damage that the poisons in your clothes are doing to you now.
Endocrine disrupters (EDCs) cost Americans over $350 billion in healthcare costs each year. These hormone-altering chemicals damage the body in many ways, lowering testosterone in men and raising it in women, triggering breast and prostate cancers and damaging the ability of cells throughout the body to function normally. EDCs have been linked to abnormal genital deformity in boys, reproductive and developmental abnormalities, obesity, weight problems in children, diabetes, breast, thyroid and prostate cancer, male infertility, endometriosis, ADHD, autism and reduced IQ in children.
Of course, when you have a list of diseases like this there are always unexpected crossovers. It’s a bit like listing the things that could go wrong with your car if I started smashing the hood with a sledge hammer. You may experience, dented hood, broken carburetor, dislodged radiator, displaced fan belts, cracked headlamps, leaky hoses, bumperfallingoffatosis… The point is, the more artificial fabrics you come into contact with each and every moment of the day, the more you’re poisoning yourself.
This doesn’t mean you have to throw away your whole wardrobe right now and go spend $5,000 at some hemp shop. But consider exchanging the clothing items you wear most often. Go online and replace them with something made from organic cotton, recycled polyester, cashmere, silk, tencel, or wool.
Take the items you wear most and replace them first. Start spending more time in natural fabrics. Over the course of a year or two, you could comfortably replace most if not all of your toxic wardrobe.
Slow and steady wins the race. The most important thing is to do something rather than nothing. We’d bet that in a couple of years- if you make some key swap outs- you will start feeling better, more energetic, and happier.
~ Health Scams Exposed
