7 Factors That Can Make or Break Your Health

The majority of the 80,000 chemicals that are in our consumer products have never been adequately tested for safety.

10,000 of these chemicals can be found in our food. Many of these chemicals do not even make it to the list of ingredients on the label!

The typical American home contains an average of 3 to 10 gallons of toxic materials, in the form of household cleaning products alone.

There are also toxic flame retardants that are found in countless items, such as in furniture, baby products and electronics.

You might be shocked to learn that in Europe, more than 1,300 chemicals are banned from use in lotions, soaps, toothpaste, cosmetics and other personal care products. In the U.S., only 11 have been banned. How can we be lagging so far behind, to protect the health of our nation? Do the big corporations have so much influence over Washington, that their profit takes precedence over public safety?

Many of these chemicals end up in household dust. Young children are in particular risk, since they play on the floor. On the average, young children may ingest about 50 milligrams of household dust a day.

Professor Stephen Holgate, an asthma expert at the University of Southampton and the lead author of a new indoor air report, by The Royal College of Physicians, claims that there are 15,000 chemicals circulating in an average human body. He adds that we basically have no clue as far as how these mixtures interact with each other, once they get inside of the human body. This is true especially for the developing fetus, which is ultra sensitive.

While it's virtually impossible to avoid toxic chemicals entirely, you can significantly reduce your exposure, by taking precautions.

Here Is What To Watch Out For:

1. Processed Foods - Besides being loaded with empty calories, sugar unhealthy fats and lots of table salt, processed foods are also a primary source of synthetic food additives, including preservatives, food dyes, stabilizers, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners and flavor enhancers. Many of these chemical additives have never been properly tested for short-term or long-term safety.

The best way to avoid these toxins, is to eat real food, preferably organic.

2. Indoor Air Pollutants - Houses are much more energy efficient and air tight than they were decades ago. This traps in indoor air pollution. According to the EPA, indoor air contains 2 to 5 times more contaminants than outdoor air and on occasion, as much as 100 times more. The list of indoor air pollutants is a long one. A 2009 study, identified 586 chemicals in the air of 52 ordinary homes. Many of these pollutants come from toxic household cleaners.

The best way to avoid these toxins would be to air out your house by opening windows and to get a good quality air purifier. You can also try to avoid using cleaners that outgas toxins.

3. Flame Retardants - Couch cushions, carpeting, mattresses, children's items and electronics are common sources of toxic flame retardant chemicals. Many of which have been linked to serious health risks, including infertility, birth defects, neuro-developmental delays, reduced IQ, behavioral problems in children, hormone disruptions and cancer.

It is difficult to totally avoid these toxins, especially since many of them may not appear on the labeling. You just need to do your research and try to buy the least toxic choices.

4. Personal Care Products - The average American woman uses 12 personal care products and/or cosmetics a day, containing an average of 168 different chemicals. Items such as tampons, pads and liners also contain many toxins. Men, who tend to use fewer products, are still exposed to about 85 chemicals from their daily regimen. Almost 13,000 chemicals are used in cosmetics and only about 10% have been evaluated for safety.

To avoid potentially toxic ingredients, look for products bearing the USDA 100% Organic seal.

5. Inappropriate Lighting Conditions - Besides chemical exposures, your home and living conditions can also make or break your health in other ways. For example, to optimize sleep, you'll want to optimize lighting conditions so that you get plenty of natural sunlight during the day and minimal artificial lighting at night. Too much light in their bedroom at night, can reduce sleep quality and prevent the release of melatonin, a hormone that helps to regulate your waking and sleeping cycles. Poor sleep is also associated with overeating, due to the effect it has on the hunger hormones leptin and ghrelin.

It helps to buy full spectrum lighting and to try to get out in the sunshine during the day, especially in the morning. This helps to synchronize your circadian rhythms. It also helps to make your bedroom as dark as possible at night. This increases melatonin production. Any dim light should be red or orange. Blue and green light disrupts melatonin production to a much greater extent.

6. Inappropriate Temperature - Many people keep their homes too warm at night, especially their bedrooms. A cooler sleeping temperature can help to reduce belly fat while we sleep.

Avoiding this problem is a simple one, just sleep in a cooler environment.

7. Excessive EMF Exposure - Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMF) can be detrimental towards your health. Your body is a complex communication device where cells, tissues and organs communicate with each other to perform basic functions. This communication includes finely tuned bio-electrical transmissions, which can disturbed by the "static" produced by EMF.

According to epidemiologist Dr. Sam Milham, the major diseases plaguing modern man, which are heart disease, cancer and diabetes, may be triggered by electromagnetic disturbances.

It helps to avoid using electronics before you go to bed at night and try to keep all electronic devices away from your bed at night. A cell phone on the nightstand, next to your head, emits EMF all night long.

There are many easily overlooked health hazards in your home. Addressing the most common ones, reviewed in this article, can help to improve your health, as well as the health of your family members.

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