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These Everyday Products Are Destroying Your Hormones | Everything’s Energy Ep-20 · EEShow (Everything's Energy Show)

• 0:00
  Marino: People will do things that cause disruption in their health, and then they'll do the thing to counterbalance it instead of getting rid of the root cause that's causing the issue. Kind of the marketing that's been going on with pharmaceuticals is like, Oh, take this pill for this, and then take this one for this, and then you're going to experience this, so let's this one.
• 0:19
  Roland: Welcome back to the Everything's Energy Show. And today, my friends, today we are diving into something very nuanced and probably quite interesting to most people, the idea of endocrine disruption or hormone dysregulation. Now I'm Roland. I have my cohost with me. We have Meila, and we have Marina.
• 0:35
  How are you guys doing today?
• 0:36
  Melati: Good. Nice to see you today.
• 0:38
  Roland: Nice to be here. Now, Mela, this is a topic that's kinda close to your heart because you've been very interested for this for years in terms of the idea of endocrine disruption. Like, what have you learned along the process of endocrine disruption, and maybe, like, introduce what it is.
• 0:52
  Melati: So, obviously, I'm a human being. I'm a female. I live on this planet. So, and I have a lot of friends that have had a lot of health issues. So, it's something that I've found is interesting as a younger person, you know, I was in my twenties, and you have people that are already experiencing fertility issues, and things of that nature, and you go, Well, why, why is this?
• 1:15
  Like, what is the root cause of everything that they're going on with? Because, you know, diet is something that can factor in, but we know it's a lot more intense than that. And then it's not just in your fertility years, then follows you into perimenopause and, menopausal years and beyond potentially. Or maybe, it doesn't really affect you, but it affects your next generation. So it's just really kind of thinking about why are things like testosterone levels far lower now in the, like, past twenty years to fifty years than they were previously without much else changing.
• 1:54
  Roland: I've heard that the testosterone level of a healthy man today is, something like 30% of what their grandfather or their grandfather's grandfather's generation
• 2:04
  Marino: my eye because it wasn't anecdotal. It was like, oh, my friends are having problems. So, yeah, it's it's this bigger thing than just, like, individuals having these issues.
• 2:13
  Melati: The proof is in the pudding, and there's certain things that are allowed here that are banned in other countries.
• 2:20
  Marino: So where are these found? You mentioned pesticides. Is there a whole slew of different channels that we're exposed to?
• 2:27
  Melati: There are a lot of different pesticides that we use here in The US, and I think that's a limiting way to look
• 2:31
  Roland: at it
• 2:31
  Melati: because endocrine disruptors are that's just one thing. Like, eating organic is one way to limit those. Drinking out of plastic is another way. They've even shown, you know, in pregnant women, those that were drinking out of plastic water bottles, that's why people are like, BPA free. Right?
• 2:52
  That's that's why that's important, Not microwaving plastic things, the off gassing. So there's a lot of various things, even what you wear, what kind of perfume you use or cologne, skin what you're putting on your skin is just as important as what you're in your bod putting in your body.
• 3:12
  Roland: Mhmm.
• 3:12
  Melati: So just think thinking mindfully, why do I eat organic? It's not just because it's trendy or or healthy. There's a practical application there. And why do I consume or use products that are maybe made in France with higher regulations than those made in China, that there's not a lot of oversight of what's, you know, the chemicals that are used.
• 3:40
  Marino: Yeah. And so the hormones that are affected, are they just, like, specifically, like, testosterone, estrogen, or is there, like we're talking about, like, all hormones in the human body.
• 3:49
  Melati: Usually, they're looking at all hormones. They are tied in with that one another. So if you're looking at your testosterone levels being high or your estrogen levels being high, it might be because your, progesterone is off. So things become out of whack for that reason. So just thinking of things holistically, it's always they're always interconnected, everything your body is.
• 4:09
  Roland: Well, you said something there that's quite interesting. I think this might be an opportunity to explain something. So when people think endocrine, they think hormone. And and hormone is part of an endocrine system. But endocrine just basically means something being shot out of a gland or an organ put into the body.
• 4:24
  So all hormones are chemical messengers. Mhmm. And the chemical messenger is just exerting an an effect. So when you hit puberty, you know, when your voice dropped and you got all awkward and you tried to, you know, try to go to the girl with, hi, you know, voice cracked. That's the effects of testosterone changing you from a boy into a man.
• 4:41
  A female has a their own version of that.
• 4:43
  Melati: And to be, like, more clear, caffeine even is an endocrine disruptor because it affects your cortisol levels. So just don't think of like, not all endocrine disruptors are evil, but oftentimes, let's just say, if you're trying to be pregnant or or stay pregnant, that's why they tell you to avoid certain things. Right?
• 5:03
  Roland: Okay. So basically, what you're saying is the whole process of these endocrine disruptors, the things that are influencing our body's inability to communicate with ourselves are causing these physio physiologic problems, and they're multifactorial. So some of them could be pesticide driven foods we eat. Some of them, it sounds like you're saying, could be chemicals being absorbed through application of skincare, aerosols, things that you're taking in.
• 5:28
  Melati: Yeah. Even things as far as, dryer sheets. The things like cleaning products, household things of that nature, know, they do have a level of chemicals in them that do affect affect the endocrine system. And you don't really think about scent that isn't even in your body. It's just in your environment Mhmm.
• 5:45
  As having that effect as well. So I you know, just be very mindful. It's not like you have to go, oh, only essential oils. But just thinking about, okay, do is it is the risk worth the reward here to use the the typical, household named items that you're thinking?
• 6:04
  Roland: Fluorox or or anything that you find in, like, a Walmart in some relative
• 6:08
  Melati: would say majority. They do sometimes I've seen even in Target where they have unscented or or more natural brands. They tend to be a smidge more ex expensive sometimes, but not always. But again, it's, you know, you're looking at a couple dollars here and there. And again, what is that worth over time?
• 6:28
  Like, if, you know, you're spending a couple dollars here to avoid thousands in, you know, testosterone, like but how many people are on, hormone creams and things these days? Those are not inexpensive.
• 6:40
  Roland: Everybody who can afford it.
• 6:42
  Melati: And you're taking those every day for the rest of your life to keep your hormones level. So I I always say, you know, cost up front or in the back, what is more convenient now versus later?
• 6:54
  Marino: Yeah. And I would say too, like, I don't know if it's just a United States thing, where people will do things that cause disruption in their health, and then they'll do the thing to counterbalance it instead of getting rid of the root cause that's causing the issue. It's kind of the marketing that's been going on with pharmaceuticals is like, oh, take this pill for this, and then take this one for this, and then you're gonna experience this, so just take this one. So, I guess, thinking about all the things that are, like, disrupting, like, they're not all bad.
• 7:24
  Roland: Well, that's the other thing too. If you're a huge corporation and you're growing a crop Mhmm. And your maximal profit yield is based upon the quantity of that crop that you can repurpose. Like, think of wheat. Yeah.
• 7:35
  How many different ways can you buy pasta, bread, various products? And if there's a pest or a series of of insects decimating your crop Mhmm. The best strategy is, well, let's put something on that's really toxic for them so they will never come near this. Oh, by the way, the byproduct is you humans who consume this over the course of time. You bioaccumulate these things in your body.
• 7:56
  You can't detoxify them, and your health is gonna suffer, but it's not gonna be the one time you do it. It's gonna be years down the line Yeah. Of bioaccumulation. So that's a very good point.
• 8:05
  Melati: Or, again, it might not affect you and your generation, but your offspring, and then that is there's somebody I really enjoy. So if someone wants to dive deeper down this, doctor Ashana Swan, has done tons of research on fertility and hormones and all of that. And they do start them in the right the the lab rat rats. There we go. And so they feed, you know, endocrine disruptors to the rats.
• 8:31
  And usually, the the parents are fine, but it's in the offspring that you notice the changes. And you can change it even from birth. There's a specific window, specifically, I think in the first trimester of when the fetus is developing, where if the hormones are disrupted specifically, that shows, and it's it's a it's a lifelong thing. And I can tell even just from physical physicality from birth, that this, child or or fetus had that disruption because of x y z. So if and if they can see that too, that same physicality is present in adult, and that lowers testosterone, it lowers fertility rates.
• 9:17
  So and it takes about two generations, again, for that to reverse, assuming you can even reproduce.
• 9:22
  Marino: Yeah. We're so early in that, and I like adding more weight to studies like that because we look at these major corporations that, right, are profiting based on the yield of the crops that they're getting. When you look at these studies and they're like, oh, we don't find a correlation. It's like, I don't I don't believe you.
• 9:38
  Melati: Well, who's doing the studies? Right. Always the question. Money? Is it independent?
• 9:42
  And this happens, I think, a lot over various industries of I think you're you're taught in high school critical thinking, supposedly. And you're always saying, oh, look at the study. What what did they show all the results? Did they just give you a snapshot? It was it curated to an extent, or was it honest?
• 10:04
  Yeah. So sometimes, they're trying to make something look significant. It's not, and vice versa.
• 10:08
  Marino: Yeah. I'm curious for the, you know, we talk about fertility, which is important, especially if you're trying to have children, but some people aren't. What effects do the disruptors have, or just having well balanced hormones have, like, on your mental health and the way that you think and process information and live your life?
• 10:27
  Roland: Do you wanna
• 10:27
  Melati: I think I think this one's good for you.
• 10:29
  Roland: I I could take a crack. So, I mean, when it comes to the effect the hormone has, there's a a primary characteristic, and there's, like, a secondary characteristic. Mhmm. So let's use testosterone for example. So testosterone in men, higher testosterone is more so correlated with courageous behavior.
• 10:45
  Mhmm. So it could affect someone's personality in a negative way, but there's also this stigma that, oh, testosterone gives someone roid rage. So they start to it amplifies more of what your innate personality has in the context of how it influences your behavior. Mhmm. So endocrine disruption for a male causing high estrogen or low testosterone, they may take on a different archetype of behavior.
• 11:09
  Estrogen has a very important effect in the brain, which is actually communication, critical thinking, awareness of empathy and understanding with people. So if someone has extremely high estrogen, they might actually become more empathic or they may become more easily emotive, and that might actually be a hard thing to manage. So these endocrine disrupting things will cause physical effects, which, you know, in men, high estrogen usually causes more accumulation of body fat, lower muscle mass. Women who have higher testosterone levels tend to have more
• 11:40
  Melati: Fake.
• 11:41
  Roland: Care. And yeah. Right. They they usually are stronger in the gym, and they actually, I I remember someone telling me the correlations of a study where they looked at female CEOs, and the ones who were the most successful typically had higher levels of testosterone because it adds a more masculine character trait to their well-being. Mhmm.
• 11:59
  So that's gonna be something that's gonna be physical and mental. If the hormones in the body are out of whack, the body in and in its in and of itself rather is out of whack. What I mean by that is if the body is trying to communicate with itself and it can't regulate, then over time, the physical aspects, the mental aspects, the emotional aspects of the body are not gonna be able to self regulate without actually working on strategies for self regulation stuff you're into, managing emotions, critical thinking, but you also have to work on detoxifying the body, improving overall health and vitality of cellular communication. Mhmm. And it's which is why when a lot of people jump in the EE system and they detox, they experience the shift of things in relationship to the health.
• 12:41
  One of those shifts is probably the normalization of systemic hormone levels. Mhmm.
• 12:46
  Melati: It does it does occur. And I think even with just cleansing the the bowels, it helps with absorption of nutrients again, which I think that on a simple level. Like, there's so many different ways you can you can look at things. And again, you have to look at the whole body and the whole system, not just one area, but this you to look at the whole body, you do have to understand the parts that make it up.
• 13:10
  Marino: Mhmm. Yeah. In terms of kind of analyzing your hormones, I know that there's a lot of tests out there, and I remember when we were talking about the gut, and you had shared kind of your analysis of like, well, you can get a test for your gut today, but then tomorrow you may change up your diet, and now that you can throw a test out the window. Is it the same for hormones?
• 13:31
  Roland: That's a great question. So yes and no. So here's the wonderful part about hormone testing. If you understand what you're testing, you can get a good snapshot more deeply than a stool test because, I mean, you're only assessing poop, that's how the the lab's gonna dissect it. So there's total hormone levels, and then there's what's bioavailable, what your body can use, and then there's what's bound.
• 13:55
  So for example, if you wanna look at testosterone levels, if you're running a blood test and you're someone who's doing hormone balancing therapy, and you just look at your total testosterone, it may be 300. Like, oh my god. That's low. But your free testosterone might be okay. So you can dive deeper into the data to understand the relationships with hormones relative to blood testing, urine testing, and saliva testing.
• 14:16
  Okay. However, any test is a snapshot in time. And I know what some guys will do when it comes to hormone replacement is they'll purposely stop sleeping well. They'll eat like crap. They'll stress themselves out for five days.
• 14:30
  They'll go to the doctor. They get a blood test. The doctor's like, your testosterone levels suck. They're like, oh my god. This is my answer.
• 14:35
  They just wanna get they wanna be candidates for hormone replacement therapy. Mhmm. So a test has value. If we wanna be scientifically more rigorous, testing over the course of time before you initiate a hormone replacement therapy protocol would be a good idea because hormones are high risk molecules. What I mean by that is they have such a strong biological influence that if you are abusing testosterone as a man, for example, you can really impact your cardiovascular health negatively.
• 15:07
  If you are a woman who's taking high quantities of estrogen or progesterone assay after menopause, there are certain cancers that are influenced by estrogen in terms of their aggressiveness of development. So if you're not gathering the data properly, you may be doing someone a disservice if you're just processing people like an assembly line. Mhmm. And if you are doing these things, you have to be checking on a regular basis to make sure that your body's not auto regulating in a way that you can't predict because then you have to adjust dosages.
• 15:37
  Marino: Okay.
• 15:38
  Roland: But I hope that answers the question Yeah.
• 15:39
  Marino: No. Absolutely.
• 15:40
  Roland: You can get better data. You can get more valid data, but it's still not a complete picture. Because if you're making your entirety of decision off of a moment in time, let's hope you got it right. And
• 15:51
  Melati: Well, I know I did do a test, previously, but they didn't tell me when I should be taking that test. So I took it at a time during my thirty day cycle where I probably shouldn't have because it doesn't give the best possible, reading for what's
• 16:08
  Roland: Ah, so your outcome was skewed.
• 16:10
  Melati: It was. So they were making assumptions based off of, and I didn't really like that. So, do if you do that, do ask, okay, what how many days before or after is the ideal window to schedule said blood drawing? Because who no one's reading that. They don't have to.
• 16:27
  Roland: Well, and there's also the the thing to think about where you can improve the status of your endocrine system without ever touching a hormone. And I think maybe it's a good idea to round out, like, may from a lifestyle perspective, what are some of the best strategies? Let's say someone's like, okay, I think I have endocrine disruption, or this is something that's resonating with me. What are some strategies holistically that they can look at to start improving things, say, the outside environment to the inside of their body?
• 16:54
  Melati: Well, funny enough, Dan, who was on his show previously, would say your thyroid. So one of those things like, that is your your master gland for for homo hormone regulation. So iodine, is one of the most efficient minerals other than magnesium that we have. So those are, like, one of the the some of the two things, you know, a nascent, you know, iodine supplement, if you wish, not like a man made one, but like a natural one, because there is
• 17:26
  Roland: So like Lugol's iodine?
• 17:27
  Melati: Yeah, Lugol's. There's a few different ones. That would be a simple one to try, just to see. I always say try something for thirty days. Like, I hate taking a dozen or two dozen supplements every day, and you're just like, this is now my life where I have to take all these things all the time.
• 17:45
  Roland: Sound like a human maraca everywhere you go with pills in your bottle.
• 17:48
  Melati: I mean, when especially if you're traveling, iodine is messy. You know, it's
• 17:52
  Roland: You're not getting that out of your clothes.
• 17:54
  Melati: No. And it does evaporate. It's alcohol based half the time. I won't get into it. But, that would be one of the simpler ones.
• 18:01
  I think just going it's not necessarily one of those things you have to detox from unlike a lot of other things. It is one of those things that will naturally work its way out of your system if you eliminate certain things from your household and environment where you can. So a air purifier would be one thought. Again, looking at your cleaning products, your beauty products, a lot of people also are looking at what kind of fabrics they're wearing on a regular basis.
• 18:28
  Roland: Oh, I've heard about this, like, natural fabrics using cotton and linen versus the what's that lycra or that garbage that
• 18:34
  Melati: Polyester. Oh, there's, you know, the the microplastics Yeah. That we're constantly again, our skin is our largest organ of elimination, but it's also like a sponge. So thinking about what you're wearing, I think one of the things people the things people don't think about is their sheets.
• 18:51
  Roland: You have to give a sheet, is what you're saying?
• 18:52
  Melati: Yeah. Give a Okay. Okay. I think most sheets, even if it says cotton, they're usually a cotton blend with other synthetic fibers. So going cotton, bamboo, linen, the nap the 100% natural fibers.
• 19:07
  It's, again, a couple dollars more, but I've noticed they last longer. They might not be as silky smooth and soft, but you're it's a breathable fabric, a. Mhmm. And b, it's, again, something that you're spending hours on every night. Right?
• 19:21
  Just, you know, just making those, I think, small adjustments makes a big difference over time.
• 19:28
  Marino: So it was the clean sheets, and then the one previous to that was the plastics that you mentioned? Microplastics. Microplastics, and then eating organic. Think was Yeah.
• 19:38
  Roland: And housecleaning products.
• 19:40
  Melati: Housecleaning products.
• 19:41
  Roland: Just You know what else too? Anything that moves fluid in your body Mhmm. Going to the gym, not not in a weird way. You go to well, not too, maybe. I don't know.
• 19:50
  Release is release. But exercise, sweating, breathing, and respiration, going in the sauna, doing like a salt detox bath. You know, the way I look at it is our environment has kind of been a chemical soup experiment for the last however long it's been since the industrial revolution ended. So what we're in is not optimally suited to our internal environment staying healthy and clean. So you have to think of it as like body hygiene on a regular basis, making sure that you're prioritizing the things that you're not taught in school or in life to make sure that your body can release and remove things as ongoingly, efficiently as it can.
• 20:30
  So drinking enough water, simple stuff. Making sure that you're moving your bowels on a regular basis, and we talked about this in the gut health episode, like making sure that your transit time is not too long. Constipation is one of the worst things for that.
• 20:42
  Melati: Magnesium's helpful for that too.
• 20:44
  Roland: It is. It can it can go off with a bang.
• 20:47
  Melati: Oxygenated magnesium Yes. It can. Specifically.
• 20:49
  Roland: If you wanna move your bowels, Oxymag. And yeah. And just and fundamentally, you know, not becoming neurotic about it. I think everything should also be put in the context of, like, don't create a stress around this. If it costs you, do some research, create a strategy for yourself.
• 21:05
  Start where you're comfortable. You can always add things to your your hygiene routine as time goes on.
• 21:11
  Melati: Well, sometimes, think it's again, if you're looking to have a healthier, you know, experience, even just to when you once maybe once you have a child, thinking about that beforehand, and maybe you ease up later on as they get older. But I think that if you know that there's a direct correlation between, you know, drinking out of plastic regularly, and hormone disruption, would you maybe not give that up for a few months the way you do coffee? I mean, there's a lot of options these days for carriers, you know, whether it's copper or
• 21:46
  Roland: Ceramic. Ceramic,
• 21:47
  Melati: metal, glass, you know, you do have mean, think my friend has a Stanleys these days. Right?
• 21:53
  Roland: Think so. I don't follow a friend, so I wouldn't know.
• 21:55
  Melati: I don't I
• 21:56
  Roland: have a I love her to my rock.
• 21:57
  Melati: But, no, I think that it is much more common now than before. And I think, for me, I always kinda laugh when I see people buying cases of plastic water at the grocery store, because it's annoying and yieldy to deal with. And you could just, for a couple $100, get a reverse osmosis system under your sink at home, and add more minerals in. Do you get what I'm saying? Like, it's a little bit more upfront, obviously, $250, but how much money are you spending every year on these cases of water, and how much of a hassle is that to deal with?
• 22:28
  Marino: Yeah. Yeah. And then just the implications on your health. I mean, we objectively know that it's, and more and more research is coming out, these microplastics, and it's just it's kinda common sense. It's like this plastic's made out of an oil, and if you heat it up, it's going to leak, and you're going to ingest it.
• 22:43
  And plastic is not good for us.
• 22:45
  Roland: It gets hot in Vegas last time I checked too. Yeah.
• 22:47
  Melati: It doesn't taste better. Feel like water in glass
• 22:49
  Marino: So much better.
• 22:50
  Roland: Yeah. Water in plastic is disgusting. It's horrible.
• 22:53
  Marino: Yeah. Alright, guys. I mean,
• 22:54
  Roland: I think that's a great place to end of practical, actionable. Any final thoughts when it comes to endocrine disruption?
• 22:59
  Melati: Yeah. Again, I think what you think, don't overstress it, overthink about it, but just remembering, like, the more you vote with what you buy, the more options there are, and usually the more affordable it becomes over time. Like, I think even sodas are an example. Not that you should be drinking them. But, you know, once people started being like, no, wanna avoid high fructose corn syrup, suddenly, was all these options with real cane sugar or stevia or this or that that didn't exist previously because the demand was there.
• 23:28
  And again, price point sometimes is very, very similar.
• 23:32
  Marino: Mhmm. That's how I like to start. Just something, you know, I kinda end up at a fork, I make a decision, and it's like, well, is let me just try this, the healthier option, and then over time, kinda build up over it.
• 23:42
  Roland: Mhmm. Awesome. Cool deal, guys. Thank you for all the information and the insights. And thank you as always.
• 23:47
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