I am always amazed at the variety of concoctions and potions on the shelves as you walk down the isle at a store dedicated to skin care. From astringents to lotions to acne preparations to sunscreens, we spend a tremendous amount of money trying to make our outward appearance just right. We rely on the FDA to monitor and regulate these products, but do you really know anything about that process? After all the debacles in the past decade relating to improperly approved drugs and outbreaks of food borne diseases, should we blindly rely on the FDA for anything?
Most would assume that any cosmetic product must be labeled with all the ingredients as would any food product. After all, what's the purpose of having an ingredient label if it doesn't list everything included? What isn't readily made public is that cosmetic products have their own unique set of regulations that has nothing to do with drugs or food. Cosmetic manufacturers are extremely protective of their ingredient lists, and have convinced the FDA that putting everything in the ingredient list is not necessary. We can trust the manufacturers to make sure what they put in is considered safe. Or can we?
Over the years, I have done a significant amount of work with patients trying to balance their hormones. In today's toxic environment, that can be difficult, but it can be done. Along this path, I have come across several patients whose hormone levels were extremely unusual. As we investigated further, we had several of the potions and concoctions that they used on their skin tested to see if they could be interfering with their natural regulatory mechanisms. What we found was that almost all commercially prepared skin lotions have added hormones that are not listed on the label. These include estrogens, progesterone, testosterone, and dehydroepiandrosterone. The manufacturers and FDA would say that these hormones have only a local effect and are good for your skin. They do nothing systemically to the body. I would have to disagree.
Transdermal (or through the skin) absorption is a common drug and hormone delivery method. You can find everything from hormone creams to nicotine patches on the market, and we readily accept that these products deliver their dose directly through the skin into the blood stream. Common sense tells us that when the lotion we apply to our face, hands, or feet "disappears", it goes into our skin. But where does it go from there? It only has a short distance to cover before it finds the bloodstream, and from there affects our whole body. So the question follows "would you eat your favorite lotion?" Would you take the creams, astrigents, or cleansers and put them in your mouth, chew thoroughly, and gulp it down? That is exactly what we are doing every time we put something on our skin, and due to the inadequate oversight of the FDA, we don't even have the information available to us that will tell us what's in the product.
I am not a huge proponent of government regulation. It often leads to unnecessary complications. But, in the case of the FDA, they are blatantly ignoring their duty to the public by letting manufacturers omit ingredients in their products. I don't want to expose myself to hormones in lotions, and I certainly don't want it on my kids. We have enough disruption to our hormonal system in today's environment without adding it to our potions and lotions. Until the FDA starts protecting the public properly, be careful what you put on your skin. It may not taste very good.
Look for future blogs that will expose more lies with the truth the "experts" are ignoring or hiding. You can also visit my website, like me on Facebook, or follow me on Twitter.
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