Are Toxins the Reason Why I’m Not Getting Pregnant?

Sometimes I wonder if the reason why I struggled with infertility and ultimately had shitty eggs and had to go the donor route was because of environmental toxins.

I won't ever know the answer for sure and it's not something I dwell on. But is something I've become more aware of over the past 10 years and is something I'm working on eliminating in my own life.

We know that there are certain chemicals that can disrupt our endocrine system...these are called endocrine disruptors. They are any chemical made outside the body that can impact or affect the body in some way. They can act like hormones in our body or they can attach to receptors that other hormones in our body attach to. These chemicals are found everywhere! Plastics, products we use on our skin, laundry detergent, food, water, cleaning products; they are everywhere. Some common ones are pesticides, BPA, Phthaltes, and parabens.

Unfortunately, especially if you live in the US, these chemicals are not banned by our lawmakers in ways that protect us. So we have to take our own action and make conscious choices when it comes to the products and things we use on a day to day basis. But this is also good news because we can control what products we choose to use and to limit our exposure the best we can.

As I read more about endocrine disruptors such as parabens and phthalates, I learned that these chemicals were in almost all of my skin care and make-up products. I decided to start making changes in those products to see if they would help. And guess what?? It was slow but eventually switching to products without these chemicals not only reduced my exposure to the chemicals themselves but my skin started to clear up. Slowly but surely I started to switch over the make-up I used and now I'm starting to slowly change the laundry detergent we use and the cleaning products we use.

I'm not doing it perfectly by any means but I believe any step towards reducing me and my families exposure is a step in the right direction.

If you are interested in making changes here are my tips to get started.

1.  Start small.  Think of one thing you can do that feels easy. Some suggestions are to get rid of your plastic water bottles and only use glass or stainless steel. Switch out your food storage containers from plastic to glass or stainless. Maybe it's just changing your laundry detergent the next time it runs out. For me, it was slowly changing over my skin care and make-up because I used these things every day.
2. Once you change something and feel comfortable and good about the change, change something else that feels easy. Small changes over time add up. Remember that every small change you make will start to add up. Overtime you will slowly reduce your exposure.
3. Use resources to check the products you have to see how they impact your health. I like EWG (Environmental Working Group) as they have an app called Healthy Living that you can look products up on and then it gives you a ranking so you can make an educated decision. 

Here are some of the products I personally use and find to be really great and helpful.  Some of these products I do receive a small commission on if you purchase using my links but none of these reviews are sponsored. They are all my own feelings and thoughts and I have personally purchased these products, they were not gifted to me.