Is Your Bath Soap Stealing Your Mind?

Is Your Bath Soap Stealing Your Mind

Every day, you take a shower, wash your face, and brush your teeth so you can look and feel your best. But could the bath soap, shampoo, deodorant, and other personal care products you use actually be contributing to mood issues and brain fog? Could they be stealing your mind?

Living in a Toxic World

On a daily basis, we are exposed to a host of chemicals and substances that poison the human brain. Common toxins can be found in the products we put on our arms, legs, faces, and hair. For example, in 2019, the FDA found asbestos in cosmetics marketed to teens, prompting a voluntary recall. The harmful chemicals in these everyday items are easily absorbed through your pores and can be transported to every organ in your body, including your brain.

Your brain is the most metabolically active organ in your body. As such, it is vulnerable to damage from toxins. 

This means that while trying to look better on the outside, you could be poisoning yourself on the inside and increasing your risk for brain health/mental health issues. The more exposure you have to these everyday toxins, the more you are putting your brain at risk.

Think about how many personal care and cosmetic products you use each day. If you’re like the average American woman, that would be about 12 products. The average American male uses about 6.

The risk from these items is real. In 2016, Johnson & Johnson was ordered to pay $72 million to the family of a woman whose death from ovarian cancer was associated with the daily use of Johnson’s Baby Powder among other company products. And all those hair care products? Research shows that hair salon workers have a higher than normal risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

Toxins and Psychiatric Symptoms

Environmental toxins impact nearly every aspect of your body and can damage the brain and lead to a variety of symptoms.

On the physical side, issues can include autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer, fatigue, weakness, aches and muscle cramps, numbness/tingling, tremors, allergies, abdominal pain, diarrhea, smelly stools, bad breath, low appetite, weight issues, skin rashes, sweats, temperature regulation problems, and more.

From a psychiatric standpoint, exposure to toxins can increase the risk of depression, suicide, ADD/ADHD, learning problems, brain fog, autism, temper outbursts, psychotic behavior, and dementia.

Even though toxins are one of the major causes of psychiatric issues, they are almost completely ignored by most healthcare professionals. If you go to visit a primary care physician or psychiatrist with complaints of depression, for example, it is highly unlikely they will ask you anything about your exposure to toxins. And because most psychiatrists never look at the brain, they don’t see the evidence of brain toxicity.

Instead, in the case of depressive symptoms, it is common to be given a prescription for anti-depressants. But if you have brain toxicity, traditional psychiatric treatments may not be effective because the brain needs to heal from the toxic exposure.

Seeing Brain Toxicity

It is possible to see evidence of brain toxicity with brain SPECT imaging studies. On brain scans, an overall pattern of low blood flow in the brain is commonly seen when there is exposure to toxins.

Seeing this evidence can prompt questions about what personal care products or other substances might be causing the problems. Finding the root cause is a critical step in getting the right treatment.

Lighten Your Toxic Load

In most cases, when a specific toxin is identified as contributing to mental health issues, the first step is to eliminate your exposure to it. In general, to minimize your exposure to toxins, it’s a good idea to ditch personal care products containing harmful ingredients.

Check ingredients on labels and avoid the following:

  • Acrylates
  • Aluminum
  • Formaldehyde
  • Fragrance
  • Oxybenzone
  • Parabens
  • Phthalates
  • Polyethylene glycols
  • Triclosan
  • Lead

Remember: What goes on your body, goes in your body and in your brain. Be careful with the personal care products you use and following these 9 ways to prevent toxins from stealing your mind.

At Amen Clinics, we perform a comprehensive evaluation that includes brain SPECT imaging, which can reveal patterns associated with brain toxicity from environmental toxins, such as chemicals and harmful ingredients in products. By identifying potential substances that contribute to psychiatric symptoms, we can personalize treatment using the least toxic, most effective solutions.

If you are experiencing psychiatric symptoms that are not responding to traditional treatment, reach out today to speak with a specialist at 888-288-9834 or schedule a visit online.

7 Comments »

  1. Thank you.
    I went to Europe a few years ago and heard talk about how their standards for makeup, body cremes were much cleaner.
    Again thanks for the tip.

    Comment by Evelyn Panzer — July 31, 2019 @ 1:58 PM

  2. Thank you so much for this article.
    I suffer from sever allergies. So sever infact that I and legally disabled.
    I learned early on that what I put on my body makes a huge difference. It is basically how I started my “reading all labels” exercise.
    More people need to be aware of this issue. Not only does what they put on their bodies affect them but it also affects everyone around them. If everyone became more aware of at least how these products are hurting themselves then the rest of us would breathe easier at the same time because of it.
    Thanks again.
    Joan

    Comment by Joan Plaut — August 9, 2019 @ 4:31 AM

  3. Do you have a list of products you can recommend? I stood at the drug store for 10 minutes and gave up because every product had one or more of the ingredients you are recommending we avoid. Thank you!!

    Comment by Ashley Pearce — August 15, 2019 @ 9:36 AM

  4. Consider going to https://www.ewg.org/ site. There is also an app that allows you to scan product bar codes. I just learned about it yesterday, so I am still learning about it. There is also an app called Think Dirty that Dr. Amen recommends. https://www.thinkdirtyapp.com/

    Comment by Joyce Altgelt — August 27, 2019 @ 8:45 AM

  5. They leave out one of the worst ingredients in some hand soaps and hair shampoos–QUANTERNIUUM. It is awful. Results in skin rashes, itching and cracked skin. check out the other names for the ingredient as well

    Comment by Carol Sills — September 23, 2019 @ 5:59 AM

  6. What products for a sun screen and body lotion are safe.

    Comment by Mary — September 25, 2019 @ 6:21 AM

  7. What soap ingredients are good for our skin?

    Comment by Ilmu Komunikasi — November 20, 2022 @ 11:09 PM

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