Cosmetics, body sprays trigger hormonal imbalances in women

A health expert, Adebola Adeyemi, has highlighted the dangers that some everyday beauty products, such as cosmetics and body sprays, pose to women’s health.

Ms Adeyemi, a licensed and board-certified natural medicine practitioner, told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview more about her findings.

The founder and Chief Naturopathic Physician at Khasmal Holistic Naturopathic Health Centre explained that cosmetics and body sprays can contribute to hormonal disruptions in women beyond the pleasant scents and flawless finishes.

Hormonal imbalance occurs when too much or too little of one or more hormones are in the bloodstream, leading to various health issues.

In May 2024, researchers at the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Charles University, 128 40 Prague, Czech Republic, analysed ten popular perfumes for their potential influence on the endocrine system.

In the study “Interaction of Perfumes with Cytochrome P-450 19,” all ten randomly selected products showed significantly inhibited aromatase activity, especially when the perfume was exposed to UV light.

Therefore, all perfumes tested in the study met the endocrine disruptors criteria,” the researchers said.

Also corroborating Ms Adeyemi’s assertion, another recent study published on the ‘Future Woman’ website revealed that many personal care and household products containing synthetic fragrances harbour potentially harmful xenoestrogens, chemical compounds that mimic oestrogen in the body and disrupt hormonal balance.

According to the report, most synthetic fragrances contain endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) such as phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA), which can significantly interfere with hormonal systems by disrupting hormone production, transport, and metabolism.

Bad habits

Ms Adeyemi said, “Women engage in many habits that alter their hormones. The cosmetics. Cosmetics, body spray, and cleaning agents. So, we are exposed to many things that mimic our (women) hormones. Yes, so once you (a woman) keep doing that, it throws your hormones off balance, and then you are exposed to toxins. Our environment has a lot of pollutants from generators and then from gas cooking.

“And people do all sorts of things; the heat from the kitchen affects the hormones in ways you cannot comprehend. They affect the brain, too. We have different types of toxins. We have lead, we have cadmium, we have mercury, we have arsenic that you can even get from eating rice. So basically, ensure that you detoxify as regularly as you can.”

Solution

Speaking on ways to balance hormones, she emphasised the importance of alternating between raw and cooked foods.

“If you eat cooked food for five days, try two days of uncooked food. I’m talking about fruits and vegetables more. Do you still cook vegetables? No, you don’t have to; you can juice them, make carrot juice, or make cucumber juice, or eat cucumber, slice, and eat because those raw foods contain the enzymes we need.

“Those cooked ones, any food you cook, once you cook it, that’s all. And then, for some food, you steam them to retain the nutrients; like yam, you steam to retain the nutrients. And then some vegetables you steam, you don’t cook, you don’t boil, you just steam, and then eat to get the nutrients”, Ms Adeyemi noted.

She further stated that the significant health conditions commonly affecting men include fatty liver and high cholesterol.

“They (men) have kidney issues; even without knowing, kidney issues could be silent. That is not true because people have diabetes. They are not metabolising sugar. And then, by the time you are having blood sugar issues, you are killing your nerves, you are killing your organs, your pancreas. So, we see that a lot,” she said.

Holistic Naturopathy

Furthermore, Ms Adeyemi encouraged Nigerians to embrace natural medicine, emphasising that it is effective because it is derived from nature, the form of healing created by God for humanity.

She advised individuals seeking natural remedies to consult qualified practitioners, stressing that natural medicine extends beyond herbs alone.

“So in China, they don’t use pharmaceutical products; they have their own medicine, which is their own conventional. The one we have as conventional is the one they use as an alternative. Yes, so traditional medicine works. It’s more than herbs. We have different aspects of natural medicine, just like I told you. We have herbs.

“We have herbal medicine. We have naturopathy. We have nutrition on its own. We have energy medicine. We have acupuncture. So, we combine all these to reverse chronic diseases and ailments. So, most of the time, people have issues with herbs. And that’s because people go to those that don’t have the right training. They are not practitioners”, said Ms Adeyemi.

According to her, herbs have specific dosages, and excessive use could result in toxicity.

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She also cautioned that herbal remedies should not be combined with conventional medicine, noting that ‘doing so may have adverse effects.’

“So when people do that, that’s when issues start. Some road sellers put paracetamol inside theirs, and some people will go to them and say I want malaria herbs. I want typhoid herbs. Meanwhile, they put in paracetamol. So imagine the effect of such on the kidneys. So the kidney can shut down by the time anybody takes, like how many cutting sessions.

“So that’s where the problem is. So, if you go to people with the proper knowledge of herbs and how to make them, they understand because there are different ways of extracting them. So you can do protein. You can do tincture. You can do decoction. And then, if you know the one that works for you, there is no one-size-fits-all. The human body is designed so that what works for you may not work for me. And then we have different deficiencies”, she added.

According to her, natural medicine focuses on identifying and addressing root causes and underlying issues rather than merely treating symptoms as conventional medicine often does.

“So someone is having a headache. Why am I having a headache? Is it from stress? Is it from anxiety? So, a headache is not just a headache. Sometimes, there’s a tension headache. There are also people. So you have to know which one.

“So that’s why I prefer natural medicine: natural medicine deals with the root causes of ailments, whereas conventional medicine deals with symptoms. So, I’m not saying convention is bad. We need each other. That’s why we’re now advocating for integrative medicine.”