You & Your Environments-Healthy Promoting Ideas

Much of your  environment is comprised of the air you breathe, your house, your work place, the products you put on your body, the water you use to shower, cook, and drink, and the world in which we live.

The World Health Organization describes our environment as “aspects of the human health and disease that are determined by factors in the environment.”

Look at the areas of your personal environment that you can control and choose healthy choices for your own health promotion.

Choose these daily, and the will become a new, natural part of your environment.

Some of these choices are obvious: others are a bit more hidden, so to examine a few of the areas one should look at the foods and liquids ingested on a daily basis.

Organic and local foods give you the chance to know what types of chemicals or pesticides are used in their production, of course it’s best if you know the farmer or start a garden where you are able to grow some of your own foods. For fun and further information regarding local and seasonal eating to promote your health and healing journey, check out the site:

http://www.clevelandclinicwellness.com/food/SeasonalEating/Pages/introduction.aspx

Drinking water throughout your day is a simple way to implement healthy lifestyle practices. Using filters for drinking water promotes quality liquid to keep hydrated and healthy.

Body care products and their contents can either help or cause damage to skin and health. By reading the labels and choosing only those that contain natural ingredients, and not the heavy preservatives that are common in some commercial products, you are making a wise health decision.

For more information on how to reduce the risks to your health and explore helpful ways to stop chemical overload of products check out

http://www.breastcancerfund.org/clear-science/environmental-breast-cancer-links//cosmetics/

Some ingredients in products that are allowed at the present time include the following: Parabens which are preservatives that make products stay fresh longer which the skin absorbs more easily.  These can be found in blush, eyeshadow, lipstick, and foundations.  These have also been shown to act as endocrine disruptors, allergens, and can impact reproductive health and your immune function. Plasticizers called phthalates add texture and luster to cosmetics to make flexibility and fragrance.  At the University of Rochester, in 2005, a researcher found that exposure to this chemical could cause abnormal development of infant boys’ reproductive organs.

One of the groups that constantly monitor and inform us abut these products and can give further assistance to help make a wiser choice for your health promotion includes The Environmental Working Organization http://www.ewg.org/

There are many areas where health is being overwhelmed by these toxins. This organization offers an app, Skin Deep, for information at your fingertips; this is especially helpful to have when shopping for body care products. You can scan products with the Skin Deep app, and purchase the ones that score well in natural ingredients. This also promotes a green product industry with your purchasing power.

Shower curtain-Lung health

Another environmental choice is the simple shower curtain which can compromise your lung health depending on what the materials that are used in them, the off-gassing of chemicals in this item can aggravate asthma and allergy reactions. Check labels to find out if the materials are plastic or other synthetic materials. Using a cotton inner liner and outer shower curtain will help prevent your skin and lungs to have to take in or breath in these fumes.

The water that is cascading from the shower can also have many toxins spreading onto you and allowing your skin to absorb these; obviously, this is not helpful in promoting health. Purchasing a shower filter and a bathtub spout filter will allow only clean fresh water to be absorbed by your largest organ: your skin.

This organization can help you to discover more about sensitivity to chemicals in one’s personal environment.

http://www.multiplechemcialsensitivity.org/#multiple%20chemical%20sensitivity

By choosing your daily routines and practices wisely, you can make a big difference in your environment;

these choices will help to build your immune system, to heal, and to keep you on your path to promoting your optimal healthy environments.