We cover how our skin absorbs toxins, the hidden chemicals in most skincare products, and how these chemicals affect your hormones.

Dr. Beckman is a doctor of Chinese medicine, acupuncturist, and herbalist in Los Angeles, California. She received her doctorate in healthy aging, and she studies epigenetics, which is how our genes are affected by our diet and lifestyle. 

Toxins are a huge topic in wellness, and practitioners will often cover the toxins in our food. However, we tend to overlook the toxins all around us in our environment.

These toxins can be hidden in cleaning agents, skincare products, and makeup, and it’s important to our health to be aware of them. The average person uses about 12-20 products a day, which is around 200 chemicals that you’re putting on your skin.

Environmental toxins can be one of the root causes of health issues. 

The good news is that we have control over this, and we can choose what we put on our skin and the products we buy!

Watch the live episode:

Dr. Ashley Beckman’s Story and Passion  

Shortly after Dr. Beckman graduated college, she read a book, Drop Dead Gorgeous, that radically shifted her perspective on skin care. The book detailed all the chemicals that are typically in skincare products.  

She realized that almost everyone assumes the products they use are safe because they’re sold in the United States. Sadly, that’s far from the truth. 

Dr. Beckman learned that many of the chemicals found in skincare products are carcinogenic, and only eleven percent of the about 11,000 ingredients in common skincare and beauty goods are actually tested. 

In Europe, officials have banned over a thousand of those chemicals. While in the United States, we have only banned about 10-15.

She became passionate about clean skincare when working with women who have issues with fertility, fibroids, and cysts.

She said people didn’t really realize that the products they used were disrupting their hormone balance or other systems. 

Dr. Beckman believes that your first step in leveling up your health is to properly and holistically assess you and your own unique challenges to optimize your health strategy.

Why Clean Products Matter 

If your products have toxins in them, you will have toxins in you.  

“When you put something directly on the skin, you absorb 60-80% of it,” Dr. Beckman said.

These toxins usually bypass the liver and the kidneys and go straight into the blood. This effect makes them extra harmful because the toxins aren’t getting filtered out by the digestive system. 

Studies have found that these chemicals, even in minute amounts, cause problems in the body. The problems worsen as toxins accumulate over time as well. 

One in three people get cancer, and experts report about ninety percent of the cause is related to some sort of environmental toxin. 

We have a lot of control over our health with our choices, and we can choose toxin-free.

Hidden Chemicals in Fragrance 

Fragrances can hold up to two-hundred ingredients in them and none of them are reported on the label. 

So when you see “fragrance” as an ingredient and think it’s not a big deal because it’s one of the last ingredients, that assumption is not necessarily true. 

Chemicals like phthalates and formaldehyde are sometimes in perfumes and fragrances. The best thing to do is look at the label and be familiar with some of the terms to look for, but at the same time, it can be hidden. 

Knowing ‘Natural’ in Skincare Marketing

Make sure you research brands. Marketers nowadays will use a strategy called greenwashing.

Greenwashing is when a brand uses the terms organic, natural, and/or vegan on their labels, which gives a false impression that the product is safe.

To get the label of a “natural” product, a skincare producer only has to have a certain amount of herbs in their items. 

The Compounding Effect of Chemicals

We have a body-burden bucket that just keeps getting more filled every day. It takes very specific actions to get toxins out of your body. 

Dr. Beckman recommends seeing a practitioner to help you get those toxins out of your body in a systematic fashion. Sadly doing a seven-day juice cleanse won’t have a lasting impact on your overall health.

“We (practitioners) need to educate and guide people on the best options and get these [toxins] out of their system… because it’s one of the root causes of a lot of chronic issues,” said Dr. Beckman.

Cleaning & Beauty Products 

There’s a lot of middle-of-the-road cleaning products that aren’t completely toxin-free but are still better than major name brands. 

Dr. Bart showed his bottle of Mrs. Meyer’s cleaning products, which is considered one of those middle-of-the-road brands, but it’s one you can trust if you see it at the store. 

When you flip the bottle and you see an ingredient labeled PEG, it is a chemical that affects the respiratory system. 

Dr. Beckman Suggests…

For household cleaning…

– Using essential oils (especially lemon essential oil), vinegar, baking soda 

– Rockin’ Green products

For Detergents…

– The Honest Company is another middle-of-the-road company, but it’s still pretty pure.

– Seventh Generation is also pretty good as well. Dr. Beckman suggests their disinfecting wipes because they use thyme essential oils. 

– Many times when a traditional detergent says non-fragranced, it uses a chemical to be non-fragranced scented. That chemical commonly causes a skin reaction for certain people and kids.

– It’s important to get a clean detergent because you’re exposed to the residues of that detergent most of your day. At night alone, you sleep eight hours on the sheets you washed with your detergent. 

Dryer Sheets…

– Use wool dryer balls 

Lipstick… 

– In order to find the cleanest beauty products, you probably have to order online. 

– BeautyCounter is a popular natural beauty company that Dr. Beckman trusts. Another one of her favorite brands is Ilia Beauty.

– Most of the time the very popular brands like Mac and Dior are very toxic

What to Look for on the Label

When you see the word, “fragrance” be very careful. It’s hidden in a lot of things. If you’re someone who suffers from migraines, headaches, or skin issues, fragrances are an important one to cut out. 

Propylene glycols are often contaminated with carcinogens. Phthalates are possibly carcinogenic.

A lot of these chemicals disrupt your hormones, but they also are linked to causing cancer. 

Formaldehyde is also in some products.

Oftentimes, these chemicals are preservatives that can make something last on a shelf for five years.

However, you don’t want something that can be that stable in your body because it takes so long to get out. 

Questions from the Audience 

What about toothpaste and deodorant? 

Those are really big. Both are important to be clean. People have different opinions on fluoride, but Dr. Beckman says she’s stayed away from it for 25 years. My favorite one is a new one called Wellnesse, and it has the hydroxyapatite in it that helps strength then enamel.

Watch out for lauryl sulfate in toothpaste. 

There’s a ton of natural deodorants. Deodorants plug up the ducts and nodes underneath your armpits, and that’s why deodorants are one of the biggest links for breast cancer.

Antiperspirant (as opposed to deodorant) isn’t great for you. Dr. Beckman recommends using a brand called All Good. 

Listen to your body and how it reacts. It’s all about detoxing, and if you notice you have sweat that is smells strong, then it’s time to detox. 

I’m a clean eater and a yoga teacher, but I still use some skincare products that aren’t toxin-free for my adult acne. I’m trying to get pregnant. So, how worried should I be about this?

I would switch. When you’re pregnant or planning to have a child, you need to clean up your skin care prior to having a child.

When you’re pregnant, the fetus will absorb the toxins that you’re in contact with as a defense mechanism to save the mother. So it’s crucial to get clean and switch over. That product is just covering up your acne and not treating the root problem

What about spring water in plastic bottles? 

I don’t suggest it. Any water in a plastic bottle in a last resort to me. I have some energy, but you shouldn’t get in the habit of that because plastic is toxic. Plastic is one of the most important things to switch. 

What are some good essential oil brands? 

Typically ones that people are familiar with are Young Living and doTERRA. I use True Vibrance Oils. I use Mountain Rose Organics, and other brand I use is called Snow Lotus. 

What is one action that we can take today after this episode? 

Learn to be a label detective! Start flipping things over, and if you see a whole long list of things you’ve never heard of, look for a better alternative.

To schedule a free call with Ashley click the link here > https://drashley.com/consultation-2/

What’s Next?

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This library of health content is low cost, so we can help you on your journey to becoming superhuman! 

Not only is it extensive, but it will continue to expand with new videos each month. Also, you will have the opportunity to share these videos with your friends and family!

Dr. Bart Precourt

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