Spring Cleaning and Your Thyroid – Brightening Care

Hello friends-

Spring is in the air, and I am at that age when I am getting excited about spring cleaning (yes, I’m turning 40 this year, lol)! In full disclosure, I have never been as, ahem, “passionate” about home cleaning as my own mother, and would often roll my eyes when she recruited me to be her little helper every Sunday morning.

Thanks to my mom, I learned the ins and outs of how to clean a home at a very young age… but I didn’t put those skills to great use. In fact, I vowed to NEVER clean my own house once I moved out of my parents’ place. ?

While I’m a big proponent of having help with cleaning the household, as I have gotten older, I have realized that as the queen of my castle, I know that there are things that I need to do and take the lead on. One of these is making sure that our home is a safe and clean environment for the whole family.

I often share about the importance of eliminating toxins for thyroid health, and we usually think about industrial toxins we may be exposed to in our environment — but did you know that the concentrations of some pollutants can be 2-5 times higher indoors than outside? This is especially important, as many of us spend up to 90 percent of our time indoors!

I didn’t realize how many harmful toxins our bodies are bombarded with every day, until I started doing the research for my first book on Hashimoto’s. All my life, I had been a girl who enjoyed makeup and beauty products, never realizing the number of harmful toxins I was putting on my body. As I dug deeper, I began to realize that toxins are everywhere — in the water we drink, the food we eat, the air we breathe, even the very products we use to “clean” our homes!

It turns out that many people are living with an overburdened liver that has a difficult time detoxifying the body from an accumulation of toxins. Symptoms of toxic overload may include digestive problems, bad breath, fatigue, weakness, constipation, headaches, hormonal imbalance, itchy skin, rashes, breakouts, joint pain, brain fog, irritability, chemical sensitivity, and weight loss resistance — just to name a few!

And since the liver is responsible for converting T4 to the active T3 hormone within the body, an impaired organ can result in an increase in thyroid symptoms.

Whatever we inhale, ingest, and absorb into our skin eventually ends up circulating in our body. From our cleaning products and cosmetics, to pesticides and exhaust fumes, we’re exposed to thousands of chemicals a day.

In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control released a report stating that the average American has 116 out of the 148 environmental chemicals (found in water, food, soil, air, dust and consumer products) that were tested, in his or her body, at any given time. Most commercial cleaning and personal care products that we use every day, are full of endocrine-disrupting chemicals that are toxic and wreak havoc on our hormones and health.

Women, on average, use 12 personal care and cosmetics products per day, which amounts to 168 different chemical ingredients!

Some common examples of toxins we come in contact with in our homes, that can be harmful to thyroid function and the immune system, include:

Plastics – These synthetic materials often contain formaldehyde (a carcinogen that can damage the thyroid gland) and BPA (a xenoestrogen that can perpetuate the autoimmune attack on the thyroid).
Xenoestrogens – These are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mimic the effects of the sex hormone estrogen and include soy, BPA, phthalates, and parabens. Xenoestrogens may increase TSH and perpetuate the autoimmune attack on the thyroid. They are often found in makeup, moisturizers, soaps, toothpaste, hair care products, detergents, and household cleaners.
Mold – Mold can lurk in damp areas in the home such as air conditioning systems, as well as in bathrooms, recently flooded areas, attics, basement areas, and spaces under kitchen sinks. It can easily build up in areas with poor ventilation and/or high humidity, and is common in homes located in moist climates. Exposure to toxic molds can trigger immune dysfunction, as well as contribute to many symptoms, including respiratory, digestive and cognitive issues.
Fluoride – Fluoride is a thyroid-suppressing halogen found in our water, toothpaste, and even black and green tea. A 2015 British study found that medical practices in areas with fluoridated water were twice as likely to have patients with hypothyroidism.

Other ingredients to watch out for include triclocarban, retinyl palmitate, retinol, PEG, chlorine, bromine, ceteareth, polyethylene, DMDM hydantoin, formalin, toluene, dibutyl phthalate, mercury, aluminum, and oxybenzone.

So what can we do to avoid these toxic substances that seem to be everywhere?

First and foremost, weather permitting, I encourage you to spend more time outdoors in the fresh air. If your allergies allow for it, I also encourage you to open up your windows and doors to air out the house, at least weekly.

Then, I encourage you to start small, and start at home. Take a look at the products you use everyday — the detergent you wash your clothes in or the lotion you rub on your skin in the morning — and check to see if the ingredients are harmful to your health. You can use a site like the Environmental Working Group (EWG) that rates products and ingredients based on known harmful effects. Then, begin upgrading your home by replacing your products with safer choices.

Over the years, I’ve worked to eliminate as many harmful toxins from my life as possible, in order to protect my thyroid and my family’s health. In previous years, I replaced most plastic cups in my kitchen with glass jars and glass storage containers. I also focused on buying organic foods and making my own cleaning supplies.

In recent years, after having a little one, I learned that the skin of our babies and children can be sensitive to most detergents and cleaning products (and I have not had a surplus of time to make my own), so I have searched for laundry, personal care and household cleaning products that are the least toxic.

The following are a few of the resources I’ve come to love that help to keep my home environment and personal care routine clean and safe for me and my family.