Hello from the Women For Balance Team!

We hope that you all enjoyed learning about hormone imbalances and nutritional health during the month of March. For those of you who were not able to attend our live calls each week...you can visit the podcast archives and listen to them there. http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/12797 

 Our focus for the month of April will be environmental toxins, in relation to our hormones. There are personal care products we should avoid to help keep our hormones steady and stable and you will learn about which ingredients to look for that you will definitely want to avoid to help support hormone balance on a cellular level! 

 We hope you enjoy this month's issue and we hope to hear from those of you who decide to make some personal changes in your own lives!

In this issue, you will find:

• Our Personal Care Products Are Poisoning Us!

• Estrogen Dominance And Environmental Estrogen

• Healthy Recipes 

• Aromatherapy Tips

• The Goal? To Lighten Our Toxic Load.

• Congratulations to our March winner!!  

OUR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS ARE POISONING US!

We used to believe that our skin was a barrier and it did not matter what we put on it. However, scientific and medical research has proven that our skin is the most effective absorption transport system the body has; a fact that is being demonstrated by the number of medications that are now being applied through creams and patches.

This knowledge creates some concern when you think about how many chemicals we have routinely put on our body in the form of a variety of personal care products; every day, day after day, throughout out our lives – from birth to death. When you read the following information, you will realize, as I did, that we have been systematically poisoned our whole lives.

DOCUMENTATION OF KNOWN POISONS IN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS

The following quotations have been taken from U.S. Senate Report on Cosmetics.

To read the complete Senate testimony, go to: http://www.senate.gov/member/ma/kennedy/general/statements/970905fdacosmetics.html

(The term “cosmetics” used here refers to all types of toiletries, personal care and personal hygiene products, as well as makeup).

Quoted for U.S. Senate Testimony, page 1:
“Whether the product in question is hair spray, shampoo, lipstick or baby powder, or suntan lotion, or soap or toothpaste, every American routinely assumes that the product is safe. But this confidence is too often unjustified – because Federal oversight of the $20 billion cosmetics industry is so limited. The basic Federal law regulating cosmetics has not been updated since 1938.

The FDA has less than 30 employees overseeing this huge industry. The FDA has no authority to require manufacturers to register their plants and products. It cannot require manufacturers to file data on the ingredients in their products. It cannot compel manufacturers to file reports on cosmetic-related industries. It cannot require that products be tested for safety or that the results of safety testing be made available to the agency. It does not have the right of access to manufacturer’s records. It cannot even require the recall of a product.”

Quoted for U.S. Senate Testimony, page 2:
A study by the General Accounting Office (GAO) reported that more than 125 ingredients used in cosmetic products are suspected of causing cancer. Twenty cosmetic ingredients may cause adverse effects to the nervous system, including headaches, drowsiness or convulsions. Twenty cosmetic ingredients are suspected of causing birth defects. The GAO concluded that “cosmetics are being marketed in the United States which may pose a serious hazard to the public.”

Quoted for U.S. Senate Testimony, page 6:
In 1988, our colleague, then-Congressman Wyden, held landmark hearings looking at the safety of cosmetics. The industry gave his subcommittee a list of 2,983 chemicals used in cosmetics. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) analyzed those 2, 983 chemicals and found 884 cosmetic ingredients that had been reported to the government as toxic substances.

We’ve known for ten years that a third of cosmetic chemicals are toxic, but we’ve done nothing to strengthen Federal consumer protections.

(This was written 7 years ago, so it is now 17 years that the government has known about these 884 toxic chemicals in personal care products, but has still has done nothing about it!)

Dr. Samuel Epstein is an internationally recognized authority on the toxic and carcinogenic effects of ingredients and contaminants in consumer products, foods, cosmetics, personal and skin care products and the 1998 winner of the ‘Right Livelihood Award’, also known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ for his efforts. In his book, ‘Unreasonable Risk, How to Avoid Cancer from Cosmetics and Personal Care Products...

Dr. Epstein stated: “most cosmetics and personal care products manufactured and marketed by mainstream and multi-level marketing industries are veritable witches brews of multiple known carcinogenic ingredients and contaminants. However, no such information is disclosed to the public.”

An article in the magazine ‘What Doctors Don’t Tell You’ states: “cosmetics include a cocktail of carcinogens, preservatives, mutagens, allergens, central nervous system disruptors, toxic heavy metals and poisons and ingredients normally used in brake fluid and antifreeze.”

The Daily Mail also ran an article that stated: “Poisoned, how a cocktail of 300 chemicals in everyday items pollutes our bodies. Many domestic products contain harmful chemicals which are persistent; these can build up in the body fat and stay in the body for years. Babies can be exposed in the womb to the chemicals that have built up in the mother’s body and when being breast-fed.”

You should now also realize that we cannot rely on anyone else to protect us: not government and certainly not business. Why? Because in spite of the fact that personal care products contain toxic and potentially cancer causing ingredients, all “cosmetics” added together form a $20 billion per year business. It’s bigger than alcohol and tobacco combined, and its spending billions of dollars on advertising every year. Too much money is at stake for politicians to make waves.

Neways is a 20 year old company in Springville, UT that has been manufacturing more than  200 products without harmful ingredients.  Neways is in compliance with the European Union seventh amendment, which bans 383 ingredients that are allowed in the U.S.  Neways was awarded the "Seal of Safety" by the Cancer Prevention Coalition.  Neways is the #2 MLM company in Japan and #3 in Australia.  For more information about these safe products Click Here

Watch this short video for more information about Neways

   Estrogen Dominance And Environmental Estrogen

 Estrogen is not a single hormone. It is a class of hormones and hormone like compounds that have estrogenic properties.

There are human estrogens, animal estrogens, synthetic estrogens, phytoestrogens, and xenoestrogens.

The three human estrogens are estradiol, estrone, and estriol, and belong to the steroid hormone family.

• ·  Speeds up the aging process

• ·  Weight gain around middle

• ·  Allergies

• ·  Autoimmune disorders

• ·  Breast cancer

• ·  Breast tenderness

• ·  Cold hands and feet as a symptom of thyroid dysfunction

• ·  Decreased sex drive

• ·  Muscle and joint pain

• ·  Depression

• ·  Dry eyes

• ·  Early onset of menstruation

• ·  Uterine cancer

• ·  Fat gain in abdomen, hips, and thighs

• ·  Fatigue

• ·  Fibrocystic breasts

• ·  Foggy thinking

• ·  Hair loss

• ·  Headaches

• ·  Hypoglycemia

• ·  Increased blood clotting

• ·  Infertility

• ·  Irregular menstrual periods

• ·  Insomnia

• ·  Memory loss

• ·  Mood swings

• ·  PMS

• ·  Ovarian cysts

• ·  Pre-menopausal bone loss

• ·  Sluggish metabolism

• ·  Thyroid dysfunction

• ·  Uterine cancer

• ·  Uterine fibroids

• ·  Water retention and bloating

What Causes of Estrogen Dominance Syndrome

Besides the natural hormonal fluctuations of menopause, certain lifestyle choices and conditions can also contribute to estrogen dominance syndrome, especially a low-fiber diet, overloading the liver with internal toxins, and absorbing toxins from the environment.

Overloading the Liver

The liver is a filter of sorts. It detoxifies our body, protecting us from the harmful effects of chemicals, elements in food, environmental toxins, and even natural products of our metabolism, including excess estrogen.

Anything that impairs liver function or ties up the detoxifying function will result in excess estrogen levels, whether it has a physical basis, as in liver disease, or an external cause, as with exposure to environmental toxins, drugs, or dietary substances.

Estrogen is produced not only internally but also produced in reaction to chemicals and other substances in our food. When it is not broken down adequately, higher levels of estrogen build up.

In like manner, the estrogen dominance syndrome can be evoked in women by too much alcohol, drugs, or environmental toxins, all of which limit the liver's capacity to cleanse the blood of estrogen.

Environment

We live in an estrogenic or feminizing environment. Certain chemicals in the environment and our foods, one of which is DDT, cause estrogenic effects. Although banned in 1972, DDT, like its breakdown product DDE, is an estrogen-like substance and is still present in the environment.

Chlorine and hormone residues in meats and dairy products can also have estrogenic effects.

In men, the estrogenic environment may result in declining quality of sperm or fertility rates.

In women, it may lead to an epidemic of female diseases, all traceable to excess estrogen/deficient progesterone. In industrialized countries such as the United States, diets rich in animal fats, sugar, refined starches, and processed foods can lead to estrogen levels in women twice that of women of third-world countries.

We are constantly exposed to xenobiotics (petrochemicals), xenohormone-laden meats and dairy products, forms of pollution, and prescriptions for synthetic hormones (such as the 'The Pill' and Premarin).

It isn't too surprising that estrogen dominance has become an epidemic in industrialized countries. Over exposure to these potentially dangerous substances has significant consequences, one of which is passing on reproductive abnormalities to offspring.

Estrogen "deficiency" that is quite often used as an explanation of menopausal symptoms or health problems is not supported by sound research. When a woman's menstrual cycle is functioning normally, estrogen is the dominant hormone for the first two weeks and is balanced by progesterone, which is the dominant hormone for the latter two weeks.

After menopause, estrogen is still present and continues to be manufactured in fat cells. Most menopausal women have too little estrogen to support pregnancy, but sufficient amounts for other normal body functions. Few women are truly deficient in estrogen; most become progesterone deficient.

If estrogen becomes the dominant hormone and progesterone is deficient, excess estrogen becomes toxic to the body. Progesterone has a balancing effect on estrogen.

Supplemental estrogen, even in the slightest amounts, in a woman who doesn't need it, or who has no progesterone to balance it, can lead to many serious side effects.

When a woman complains of even the slightest menopausal type symptoms, conventional medical doctors will recommend a prescription of estrogen.

It is irresponsible and dangerous for doctors to be routinely prescribing estrogen for any type of pre-menopausal or menopausal symptom, and this practice can have tragic consequences.

To order Endau Natural Progesterone Click Here

*****Healthy Recipes  of the Month*******

Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy Detox With Essential Oils
by author Bev Gray

Detoxification is a natural and constant bodily process. We are continually eliminating excess toxins through our digestive, urinary, integumentary (skin), circulatory, respiratory, and lymphatic systems.

While we are designed to handle some toxins, our bodies can become overloaded when bombarded with too much processed food, drink, sugar, parasites, air, and water pollutants. This can lead to fatigue, constipation, gas, bad breath, low immunity, hormone imbalances, skin problems, poor circulation, mood swings, depression, and mucus build-up.

Essential oils derived from the likes of lemon, grapefruit and juniper can help relieve some of these symptoms by assisting the body in ridding itself of unwelcome toxins. When used in conjunction with a dietary and herbal detoxification, essential oils complement the holistic, natural cleaning process.

Entering the bloodstream through the pores of the skin, essential oils are carried to all parts of the body via the circulatory and lymphatic systems. They are chemically complex and their constituents have a direct effect on the body, mind, and spirit.

During a detoxification, aromatic essential oils can be used in a massage oil or in the bath.

Massage

Why not combine the relaxing, manual lymph drainage of a massage with the detoxifying properties of essential oils? Pure essential oils are very concentrated and most should be diluted in a carrier oil before being used on the skin.

Revitalizing and Detoxifying Massage Oil:

• 4 drops grapefruit

• 4 drops juniper

• 4 drops cypress

• 6 drops laurel

• 2 Tbsp (30 mL) sunflower oil

Mix essential oils with sunflower oil in a 30mL bottle

Hydrotherapy: Water is healing and detoxifying, and bathing is an excellent way to use essential oils, as it combines the benefits of inhalation with the powers of absorption through the skin.
 

Detoxifying Bath Salts:

• 10 drops grapefruit

• 10 drops juniper

• 4 drops helichrysum

• 1 cup (250 mL) Dead Sea salts

Mix essential oils with the Dead Sea salts before pouring into a tub full of warm water.

Detoxifying Essential Oils

Juniper berry (Juniperus communis): This powerful, detoxifying oil is a purifier, helps avert nervous tension, and reduces cellulite. Juniper essential oil is an antiviral, antiseptic, diuretic, and can help relieve pain, the symptoms of rheumatism, and expel uric acid from the system. Juniper’s spicy aroma helps to strengthen and fortify the spirit during times of low energy, anxiety, and emotional overload. The oil can irritate some people’s skin, and should be avoided during pregnancy.

Helichrysum (Helichrysum italicum): Ideal for use during a drug or alcohol detox, helichrysum helps stimulate liver cells, thin mucous secretions, and acts as a free radical scavenger. It is non-toxic and non-irritating.

Lemon (Citrus limonum): A refreshing citrus oil, lemon stimulates white blood cells to defend the body against infection. Its detoxifying and regenerating properties are beneficial for the liver, and aid in bringing clarity to the mind and emotions. Lemon may irritate those with sensitive skin, and when used in a bath it must be used with a carrier oil.

Grapefruit (Citrus paradise): Having a detoxifying effect on individuals recovering from substance abuse, grapefruit is antiviral, antiseptic, diuretic, and can aid the digestive system and skin. It refreshes the mind, relieves anxiety, is reviving, uplifting, and helps disperse negative energy. It may, however, increase photosensitivity.

Laurel (Laurus nobilis): Characterized by a fresh, sweet smell, laurel contains eugenol which makes it effective in thinning mucous secretions, as an expectorant, and as an anti-viral and anti-fungal. According to chemist Kurt Schnaubelt, author of Medical Aromatherapy: Healing with Essential Oils (Frog Ltd, 1999), laurel has positive effects on the lymphatic system. He suggests rubbing a few drops of oil on swollen lymph nodes for an immediate effect. Laurel should be used in moderation, and avoided during pregnancy.

Bev Gray is a herbalist, registered aromatherapist and educator. She is the recent recipient of the Yukon Business Person of the Year Award.

*** Neways has a wonderful carrier oil called Tangible Massage Lotion. It is a non-greasy massage lotion formulated to work like an oil but absorb like a lotion. This lotion is formulated with Sweet Almond oil, and provides the additional natural skin benefits of Aloe Vera, Sage, Eucalyptus, and Vitamin E. Tangible Massage Lotion mixes easily with essential oils to create a cleaner, more absorbent application. Use it when you want an easy way to apply essential oils to the body. Tangible helps to drive the therapeutic oils deeper into the skin, getting it to your bloodstream quickly.

More about Essential oils http://antiagingchoices.com/Aromatherapy/index.htm

 You can get your Tangible Massage Lotion and your therapeutic-grade Essential Oils from Neways! I invite you to take advantage of the Preferred Customer status I make available to each one of you.. Preferred Customers get their products at the same wholesale price distributors pay, without the benefits of having a Neways business. ***  Contact me to learn how to become a preferred customers.  Judy@antiagingchoices.com

The Goal? To Lighten Our Toxic Load 

The following toxins are among the most prevalent in our air, water and/or food supply , as well as some of the everyday personal care products we use.  Do yourself a huge favor and commit to memory some of the names of the chemicals below and begin to search out products that you use in home home regularly that are free of these environmental toxins! 

1.     PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls): This industrial chemical has been banned in the United States for decades, yet is a persistent organic pollutant that's still present in our environment.

Risks: Cancer, impaired fetal brain development
Major Source: Farm-raised salmon. Most farm-raised salmon, which accounts for most of the supply in the United States are fed meals of ground-up fish that have absorbed PCBs in the environment and for this reason should be avoided.

2. Pesticides: According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 60%  of herbicides, 90 %  of fungicides and 30% of insecticides are known to be carcinogenic. Alarmingly, pesticide residues have been detected in 50% - 95%  of U.S. foods.

Risks: Cancer, Parkinson's disease, miscarriage, nerve damage, birth defects, blocking the absorption of food nutrients
Major Sources: Food (fruits, vegetables and commercially raised meats), bug sprays

3. Mold and other Fungal Toxins: 33% of people have had an allergic reaction to mold. Mycotoxins (fungal toxins) can cause a range of health problems with exposure to only a small amount.

Risks: Cancer, heart disease, asthma, multiple sclerosis, diabetes
Major Sources: Contaminated buildings, food like peanuts, wheat, corn and alcoholic beverages

4. Phthalates: These chemicals are used to lengthen the life of fragrances and soften plastics.

Risks: Endocrine system damage (phthalates chemically mimic hormones and are particularly dangerous to children)
Major Sources: Plastic wrap, plastic bottles, plastic food storage containers. All of these can leach phthalates into our food.

5. VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds): VOCs are a major contributing factor to ozone, an air pollutant. According to the EPA, VOCs tend to 200%-500% in indoor air than outdoor air, likely because they are present in so many household products.

Risks: Cancer, eye and respiratory tract irritation, headaches, dizziness, visual disorders, and memory impairment
Major Sources: Drinking water, carpet, paints, deodorants, cleaning fluids, varnishes, cosmetics, dry cleaned clothing, moth repellants, air fresheners.

6. Dioxins: Chemical compounds formed as a result of combustion processes such as commercial or municipal waste incineration and from burning fuels (like wood, coal or oil).

Risks: Cancer, reproductive and developmental disorders, chloracne (a severe skin disease with acne-like lesions), skin rashes, skin discoloration, excessive body hair, mild liver damage
Major Sources: Animal fats: Over 95 %  of exposure comes from eating commercial animal fats.

7. Asbestos: This insulating material was widely used from the 1950s to 1970s. Problems arise when the material becomes old and crumbly, releasing fibers into the air.

Risks: Cancer, scarring of the lung tissue, mesothelioma (a rare form of cancer)
Major Sources: Insulation on floors, ceilings, water pipes and healing ducts from the 1950s to 1970s.

8. Heavy Metals: Metals like arsenic, mercury, lead, aluminum and cadmium, which are prevalent in many areas of our environment, can accumulate in soft tissues of the body. Heavy Metals

Risks: Cancer, neurological disorders, Alzheimer's disease, foggy head, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, decreased production of red and white blood cells, abnormal heart rhythm, damage to blood vessels
Major Sources: Drinking water, fish, vaccines, pesticides, preserved wood, antiperspirant, building materials, dental amalgams, chlorine plants Heavy Metals

9. Chloroform: This colorless liquid has a pleasant, nonirritating odor and a slightly sweet taste, and is used to make other chemicals. It's also formed when chlorine is added to water.

Risks: Cancer, potential reproductive damage, birth defects, dizziness, fatigue, headache, liver and kidney damage.
Major Sources: Air, drinking water and food can contain chloroform.

10. Chlorine: This highly toxic, yellow-green gas is one of the most heavily used chemical agents.

Risks: Sore throat, coughing, eye and skin irritation, rapid breathing, narrowing of the bronchi, wheezing, blue coloring of the skin, accumulation of fluid in the lungs, pain in the lung region, severe eye and skin burns, lung collapse, reactive airways dysfunction syndrome (RADS) (a type of asthma)
Major Sources: Household cleaners, drinking water (in small amounts), air when living near an industry (such as a paper plant) that uses chlorine in industrial processes. wouldn’t eat it!

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR  March 2008 WINNER!!!! 

As promised~ we drew a name from our list of registered Newsletter recipients and I would like to congratulate Mig Frey for winning our very first give-away! Mig will be receiving a tube of natural, bio-identical Progesterone. Endau Harmonizing Cream will arrive in her mailbox very soon! 

Would you like the opportunity to win a tube for yourself? I'd like to invite you to visits my Women for Balance website and register to receive our monthly newsletter. Each month I will hold a drawing for a new winner! It could be YOU!!

While you are at my website, take a moment or two for yourself and enjoy a couple of the many articles there for your learning pleasure. The site is a virtual library of information that will help put you on a solid path to health.
Until next month~ here's to YOUR health in 2008!!!

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I appreciate you

Judy ToveyJ)

309-862-3624 - Cell 309-826-2416

http://antiagingchoices.com

http://womenforbalance.com