Non-Toxic Products and Crohn’s Disease

This past year, I have become more and more aware of what products I use on my body and its effect on my health, due to the fact that I have Crohn’s disease. It occurred to me recently, that perhaps it would be wise of me to treat my body with the utmost care, in all aspects of life, in order to further promote healing and wellness.

How I became interested in non-toxic products

I started to become interested in non-toxic products because of a family member. I was educated on how toxic mainstream products like detergent, dish soap, shampoo and conditioner, body wash and cleaning supplies can be. Actual carcinogens and horrible hormone disrupting chemicals are happily placed into these bottles we bring home and most people are unaware of it. At least I was.

Knowing this information piqued my interest in learning more. So I began to research and sure enough, I learned that mainstream products have some pretty scary chemicals inside of them.

Opening my eyes to carcinogens

I used an app called Think Dirty and discovered the very shampoo and conditioner I was using had carcinogens in them! Yes! Carcinogens. If you don’t already know, carcinogens are a substance that is capable of causing cancer. Why on earth do I need carcinogens in my shampoo?

Nonetheless, this was quite eye-opening. Now hear me out; I am certainly no hippy and I enjoy a lot of mainstream products. But I have to say, discovering this made me think twice. I am already dealing with an autoimmune disease which causes major inflammation in my body. Shouldn’t I be helping my body in all the ways possible? Is it irresponsible of me to use a shampoo with carcinogens in it?

Maybe I am being too hard on myself, but that was what went through my head. So in lieu of these events, I have started to clean up my products. Here are three products I immediately ditched:

Products that I've stopped using

1. Dryer sheets

Dryer sheets, believe it or not, carry the most toxins out of all the home products. These toxins leach onto your clothes which then go on your body and into your bloodstream. Our bodies are amazing and do its best to filter these toxins out, but why put it through the trouble?

Introducing wool dryer balls. It’s a non-toxic alternative, and if you purchase an essential oil, you can make them smell like any scent you want. My personal favorite is Lavender. So I put 2-3 drops onto the wool dryer balls. Toss them into the dryer with my clothes and that’s it. Beautifully smelling laundry with zero toxins. A no brainer.

2. Laundry detergent

The next product I switched was detergent. I found an amazing detergent by Young Living that has zero toxins. It is totally plant-based but it actually makes your clothes feel clean. The detergent is from their Thieves line and I have been happy with the results.

3. Shampoo and Conditioner

Naturally, after discovering my shampoo and conditioner were filled with toxins, I decided to ditch it. I now use Innersense Organic Beauty shampoo and conditioner. The product works amazingly on my hair, and they have an entire line that includes hair masks, oils, texturizing creams, and beyond. I feel amazing when I use it because I know I’m being good to my body, and my hair looks great!

So those are the three products I have ditched since discovering about toxins and their prevalence in products. I encourage you to do your own research on toxins and the effects it has on our health. Of course, in our day and age, we will always be around products that have toxins in them, but at least in our home, we have the power to choose if we want them or not.

Do you use non-toxic products? What’s your favorite? Share below!