Xenooestrogens "The New Millennial Plague"
When I’m at the gym or out and about, my large stainless steel water bottle often accompanies me, and in certain places I am commonly met by puzzled expressions and or questions like, “How can you be bothered to carry that heavy thing?” or, “Do you use that as some kind of weapon or something”?
And while there have been times, especially at the gym where I’ve been tempted to use it as a weapon (LOL), I enjoy informing people that drinking all-important water out of a stainless steel water bottle is just ONE of the many ways I choose to reduce the toxic burden on my body daily; specifically by reducing my exposure to carcinogenic, disease-causing xenooestrogens which we are surrounded by in the 21st Century.
What are Xenooestrogen’s?
Exogenous oestrogen’s (Xenooestrogen’s) are “oestrogen-like” compounds that are industrially made chemicals which disrupt communication within the body’s hormone producing organs. These hormonally active compounds have a negative oestrogenic effect that differs chemically from naturally occurring hormones produced by the human body and differ from phytoestrogens (oestrogen-like substances from plants) consumed from the diet.
Xenooestrogen’s can be absorbed into the body by ingestion, inhalation and direct skin contact and are attributable to many common health disorders, some of these include:
1. Increase in reproductive-site cancers (breast, uterine, & ovarian)
2. Decreased fertility in both male and females
3. Oestrogen dominance (presenting as cellulite or fat on back of arms, thighs, buttocks and abdominal region in females and increased chest fat or “man boobs” on males)
4. Decreased Testosterone hormone
5. Increased incidence of prostate cancers
6. Decreased antioxidants (increased ageing, cellular damage, cancers)
7. Heart disease
8. Diabetes type 2, adult onset
9. Premature Ovarian Failure
10. Obesity
11. Thyroid Disruption
12. Testicular Dysgenesis Syndrome
13. Endometriosis
14. Uterine Fibroids
Common Sources of Xenooestrogen's
Xenooestrgoens exist in every aspect of our daily modern life. From the coffee you drink from a foam cup with a plastic lid to the fluorinated city water whether ingested or absorbed by your skin. Other everyday exposures include:
• Oral contraceptives and synthetic hormone
replacement therapies
• Non-organic livestock which are fed oestrogenic drugs to fatten them. Also, the grains they are fed are laden with chemical sprays that accumulate in animal tissue especially their fat (Kolok & Sellin, 2008).
• Petro chemically-derived pesticides, herbicides and fungicides (used in commercial fruit and vegetable farming and home gardening).
• The chemical Bisphenol A (BPA), is used in plastic bottles, containers and almost all canned food liners (Vandenberg, Maffini, Sonnenschein, Rubin, & Soto, 2009)(Hence my avoidance of plastic water bottles).
• Cosmetics and skin care products which may be a significant source of xenoestrogens in the form of metalloestrogens (aluminium salts), parabens, cyclosiloxanes, triclosan, UV screeners, phthalates (Darbre, 2006)
• Solvents found in fingernail polish and polish remover, glue, cleaning supplies (Brody, et al., 2007)
• Almost all plastics, especially when plastics became hot or are heated (Wagner & Oehlmann, 2009)
• Cigarette smoke, automobile exhaust, chemical industry pollutants (Fucic, et al., 2012)
• Industrial wastes such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins that may leak into the ground water and contaminate your drinking water.
Becoming aware of the health issues xenoostrogens can cause to your health and the health of your family should motivate you to implement some changes that are suitable to your lifestyle and budget. This includes reviewing:
The types of containers you use for food storage
The places you source your food from and types of foods you eat
Limiting exposure to harmful environmental toxins where possible and
Assisting your body's detoxification organs through beneficial nutrition to promote better clearance of these substances from your body.
Although exposure to many of these toxins may be unavoidable in our well-adapted 21st century lifestyles, doing your best to avoid them wherever possible is a great way to minimise disease risk and promote wellness and vitality.
For more information on xenoostrogen's, or to discuss a holistic treatment for reducing high oestrogen and toxic load in your body, contact me through the contact page or make a booking to see me for a holistic health consultation.