How Your Personal Care Products Are Making You Fat
We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with chemicals. They are everywhere, in our food, air, toothpaste, makeup, cars, homes. There’s no escape. While we can’t avoid most of the environmental toxins surrounding us, there are some toxins we can. We can choose to eat organic foods and cleaner sources of meats. We can also use cleaner, less toxic, cleaning, and personal care products for our home and personal use.
Most of our care products come with a lengthy paragraph of ingredients that sound like a foreign language and are hard to pronounce. Many of these chemicals are toxic and disrupt our endocrine system and hormones. They can also damage our cells and may become catalysts for cancer.
So what does this have to do with weight gain? A lot!
Your skin is the biggest organ in your body. Everything you put on your skin is absorbed quickly into your bloodstream. The toxic chemicals are carried by your blood throughout the entire body accumulating damage on your organs. It’s worse to apply these chemicals directly to your skin than ingesting them because they bypass some of the protective mechanisms set in place for digestion. At least when you eat something, it will go to your stomach, where it can be broken down by hydrochloric acid and processed for elimination.
When toxic chemicals enter the liver, the liver becomes inflamed and can’t function properly. A dysfunctional liver can lead to fatty liver disease and many other problems. Some of the effects of a heavy toxic load on the liver include:
- Inflammation
- Damaged mitochondria
- fatigue
- Bloating
- Weight gain
- Hormone imbalance
The liver plays a major role in not only detoxing the body but also facilitating weight loss. One of the most important roles of the liver is to help the body burn fat for energy. It does it by producing bile. Bile aids digestion by breaking down fats into fatty acids. A toxic liver cannot function properly and produce adequate amounts of bile to break down fats. When this happens, fat accumulates in the body, particularly around the belly. Over time this extra weight gain can turn into a serious chronic health condition known as metabolic syndrome.
If you are doing everything right (eliminated processed food from your diet, drink a moderate amount of alcohol, exercise regularly) and you still cannot lose weight, then detox your liver to kickstart your weight loss. A toxic liver is usually a culprit for a sluggish metabolism and stubborn weight loss.
There are different ways to detoxify the liver such as, juicing, fasting, taking milk thistle, and other detox supplements. However, another solution is to minimize your toxic exposure. Read the labels on the products you are using and research them. You can look them up at the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) website. EWG is a watchdog group that researches chemicals in common household products, makeup, and personal care products.


You are what you eat, but you’re also what you put on your skin. A whole food diet coupled with exercise, clean skincare products, hydration, and 7 -8 hours of sleep is the perfect strategy for sustainable weight loss. Only use natural, chemical-free personal care products. Your liver and waistline will thank you for it.

