Happy Valentine’s Day! I want you to have an amazing year that’s full of love and joy, not toxicant chemicals (aka free from chemicals that could make you sick and impact your health!) 🙂
Valentine’s Day (and the rest of the year) is a great time to add a little romance and make sure that you and your partner are having the best time possible, and I want you to be as safe as possible!
Many need the help of lubrication to ensure an enjoyable experience, but the big problem is that like a lot of personal care products, lubricants are often FULL of toxicant chemicals that you shouldn’t go anywhere near! Our mucosal cells (in and around our genitals) are VERY good at absorbing what they come into contact with, including anything used during intimacy.
Here’s a list of SOME of the chemicals (unfortunately the full list is way longer than this) that I’m worried about that are commonly found in personal lubricants. I’ve even included a number of safer alternatives and options that you can enjoy for Valentine’s Day (and any other day of the year)!
Chemicals of Concern
PARABENS (aka methylparaben, ethylparaben, propylparaben and butylparaben)
- Used as a cheap preservative and a germicide
- ENDOCRINE DISRUPTOR (it’s messing with your hormones!)
- REDUCE SPERM COUNT IN MEN! This is a huge issue obviously, especially if you’re trying to conceive
- FEMINIZATION OF BOYS (because they act like estrogens!)
- CANCER LINK (they’re conducting further research to assess this, but the concern is there, particularly for breast cancer)
FRAGRANCE
- PHTHALATES!!! (if you’re read or attended any of my lectures previously you’ll know how I feel about phthalates!)
- Linked to everything from allergies and asthma to increased weight gain, birth defects, infertility and cancer
PETROCHEMICALS
- Oil based products
- Can effectively block the skin and pores, interfering with cell function and permeability and increase risk of infections
- May contain impurities associated with links to CANCER
GLYCOLS (aka propylene glycol)
- Thickener and the base of many creams and gels
- Can cause tissue irritation/damage mucosal membranes and increase risk of STD infections and transmission
- Can increase risk of yeast infections
- Possible carcinogen (cancer causing!)
CHLORHEXIDINE
- Can cause tissue irritation and cellular mutation
- Kills good vaginal bacteria and can increase risk of bacterial vaginosis and candida albicans (yeast infections)
Overwhelmed about what to use now?
Don’t freak out! The great thing is that there are already a number of brands that take all of the above garbage out of their products.
KEEP IN MIND that not all products are safe to use with condoms, so you must double check before using any lubrication, especially with latex condoms, and also make sure they’re safe for sperm if you’re trying to get pregnant!
Safer Alternatives to Consider
Interested in treating the cause?
There are a whole host of reasons that you may be needing more lubrication than you used to, or needing it at all. We can definitely chat more about reasons for why this may be the case and other options to get you back to a place where your body is able to produce lubrication on your own. Book in for a visit here and we can get started today.