Is Your Toilet Paper Making You Sick?

How many of us take toilet paper and paper towels for granted? I mean besides which is the softest or most absorbent, have you ever thought about how they make them or how safe they are for you? I know I never really thought about the dangers that may be lurking in my roll of toilet paper, but after talking to my trusted doctor, Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy, I did a quick Google search... YIKES! I threw out most of my paper towels, toilet paper and napkins. Why you ask? Chlorine and bleach!


Just like me, you probably never put much thought into just what goes in to making all those paper products so white. They may look clean and fresh, but products made with chlorine and bleach are filled with toxins. After reading this blog, you'll definitely have information to think about.


Like most people my age, I grew up with the smell of bleach lingering on my dad's white work shirts and even on our white bed sheets. You might even clean your bathroom and kitchen with bleach to disinfect them from all the bad germs roaming around in those rooms. If your kids swim, they're in chlorine as well. So what's the problem you ask? Plenty.


One thing that we have to over come, as we live healthier lives and become more health conscience is that just because it's available doesn't make it right. Take chlorinefor example, one of its largest uses is in the paper industry. It's used to break down wood fibers and bleach the paper white. This causes a chain reaction because it not only pollutes our streams and waterways, but also contaminates the fish and the people that eat the fish.


In paper products, Chlorine causes the formation of dioxin, an extremely toxic chemical known to cause cancer and disrupt the endocrine system. As the byproduct of manufacturing chlorine, bleached paper it is believed to be the single most carcinogenic chemical known to science! It's just not in paper either, but all around us. Because of chlorine pollution an average American ingests 300-600 times more dioxin that is deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency! It's been found to be than 300,00 times more potent than DDT-one of the most widely known toxic synthetic pesticides! Chlorine has been linked to endometriosis, immune system impairment, diabetes, neurotoxity, birth defects, decreased fertility and reproduction dysfunction in both men and women. Chlorine is found in coffee filters, paper milk cartons, and even disposable diapers-our poor babies! THESE TOXINS ARE READILY ABSORBED THROUGH THE SKIN! That's right and did you know that chlorine is found in almost everyone's blood? Although our bodies can metabolize and rid themselves of many contaminates, the dioxins found in chlorine are not so easily removed. So use of chlorine and products with chlorine may end up compromising your health.


Which brings me to a BIG downside of using toilet paper with chlorine and bleach. Our private parts are sensitive in many ways. Many woman experience vaginal discomfort thinking it's a yeast infection and use over the counter antifungal medications (Don't even get me started on why I think we shouldn't be using them-that's for another day-another blog). These topical lotions may give women initial, but not long term relief. Why? Because it's not a yeast infection so the creams are most likely just providing a barrier between the skin and toxic bleached toilet paper (which probably also contains formaldehyde-another highly toxic substance). Once the cream is removed after a few wipes, you're right back where you started-irritation caused from toilet paper containing chlorine/bleach. You're not solving the problem, just masking it. So if you use thick, absorbent, strong, bleached expensive brands of toilet paper (or any bleached toilet paper), you may think you're protecting and pampering your private parts, but in reality, with every wipe, you're increasing your risk for infections AND absorbing toxins. I hear myself telling my kids when they were young to "Be sure to wipe good." (Ha, ha) What was I thinking? You're just wiping toxic chemicals on yourself! And if you think that wiping with moist wipes will be better-think again. Unless they are chlorine/bleach/fragrance free, you will have the same issues!


Can you believe there are more than 100,000 chemicals used in commercial paper products? Do you know many have been tested for possible risks to health? Not many. We have so many colors and fragrances to choose from too-which just adds another layer of problems/toxins. Also be aware that most tampons contain chlorine as well, and some even have added fragrances. All bad stuff!

Spring Cleaning Ways For Your Body Type

My best advice for your spring cleaning tips is to do a simple body detox according to your body type. There are twelve body type options in Ayurveda. However there are three main descriptions.


First there is this type, a person with a high metabolic rate. This would be a person that doesn't have weight issues, who is slender looking. This person when imbalanced will complain of anxiety, constipation, and insomnia. This body detox is done by cleaning the nervous system. The master cleanse concept here is to lubricate he system using an herb that is target specific for the nervous system as the main ingredient.


Secondly, is the body type that gets acid reflux, feels hot easily, and will get hypoglycemia if they do not eat lunch on time. This body type needs an acid body detox and needs to use herbs and lubricant to purge the gastrointestinal tract of acid food by products.


The third type is the person who gains weight if they look at food, as the saying goes. This person has had weight issues all their life and needs to be unclogged and fat scrapped off after every major holiday because they have such slow metabolism that everything just clogs up.


It is important to have an ayurvedic specialist to help you understand your doshas and how you get natural a backlog of physiological poisons. In Ayurveda there is an ancient system of body detox that has been being practiced for centuries and all specific to your body type.


My teacher and friend Dr. Narendra Pendse, tells me that in the hospital in Pune, India where he volunteers and worked for the last seventeen years that in a week the staff guides a 1000 people through these individualized master cleanses.


It is also of extreme importance to realize you must eat a proper body detox diet that includes three days before the body detox and seven days after the body detox that you must adhere strictly to a diet that is exact to your body type and imbalance. If you do not understand this, as many of the people that I have seen will tell you they have more digestive problems after a "bad " fasting than before they did before the body detox.


Ayurveda also takes into consideration what season you are choosing to do the master cleanse. The reason why is because the time of year dictates the toxic effect on the tissue. In the summer digestive toxins will initiate overheating and acidic accumulation. In the winter, toxins will be aggravated by cold and dry weather leading to dryness in the gastrointestinal tract and causing a dehydration of tissues. The poisonsry in the tissue and become embedded into the walls of the large intestines.