Are you eating organic food, cutting chemicals from your home, and choosing non-toxic beauty products as part of your journey towards better health?
These are amazing steps to take. But there’s another place where toxic chemicals could be having a significant impact on your health and wellness.
Ladies, listen up:
It’s time to go organic with your periods.
Did you know the products you use to help you with your period could actually be harming you?
Your body can absorb chemicals into your bloodstream through your vagina, including the chemicals used in manufacturing non-organic menstrual products.
But don’t fret, this is where you can make the change. Let’s dive into three reasons why you should make the switch to organic period products.
Better for Your Body
Consider this…
The products you use during your period come into close contact with your body. VERY close. Tampons are inserted into your body, while pads lay right against your vital sexual organs.
Do you know what’s in those products?
Traditional period products are made with:
- Cotton treated with insecticides and pesticides
- Synthetic fibers
- Added fragrance for control odor
According to the Organic Consumers Association, cotton is the dirtiest crop in the world because it’s sprayed with some of the most toxic pesticides.
And that’s a big cause for concern if you’re worried about the effects of toxins on your body.
“It takes seconds to minutes to absorb chemicals, and any toxins require our liver and detoxification process to work hard to get rid of it,” says Dr. Inna Lukyanovsky, Functional Medicine Practitioner, Gut and Hormones Expert, Doctor of Pharmacy, and best selling author of Chron’s and Colitis Fix and Digestive Reset.
Unlike conventional period products, organic period products typically are made from 100% certified-organic cotton, which is grown without artificial fertilizers and pesticides.
Organic tampons also typically come without added fragrance, chlorine bleach, or plastic applicators.
Better for the Environment
Our world, the environment we live in, is in a major crisis right now. With that in mind, finding more sustainable ways to grow and cultivate the products we use regularly should be our top priority.
Organic period products are a more sustainable, eco-friendly alternative to conventional ones, thanks in part to the use of organic cotton.
Growing sustainable 100% organic cotton:
- Uses 91% less water and 62% less energy to produce.
- Doesn’t damage the soil
- Emits 42% less CO2
- Is better for the farmers who cultivate it
Organically grown cotton is better for the environment, your body, and the farmers who grow and harvest it.
Better for Your Period?
Could organic tampons and pads be the answer to your period woes?
Thousands of women around the country are claiming organic menstrual products are:
- Shortening their cycles
- Lessening period symptoms
- Ridding side effects of using non-organic products such as yeast infections, etc.
- Lessening odors
If you scan through the review pages on organic menstrual products, forums, or even in your local mom group online, you may have seen testimonies from women claiming organic period products have changed the game for them.
- “My period shortened from 7 days to 3 days, and my cramps were basically undetectable.”
- “Really help reduce my cramps!”
- “As a woman, it feels really good not having to worry about my tampons containing harmful chemicals like pesticides, insecticides, or bleach.”
- “Major decrease in my cramps…no symptoms anymore…only a regular flow now.”
- “I never realized the irritation I experienced ‘down there’ could be due to bad plastics and unknown materials in my panty liners and pads. I found immediate relief after switching to organic cotton products.”
Why are so many women claiming they’re experiencing reduced period symptoms when they go organic?
“Some women have a challenged detox process before and during their periods which can get even get more difficult with the additional toxic burden from chemicals,” says Dr. Lukanovsky.
“I’m very firm on using natural and not chemically treated menstrual products, especially tampons.”
There has yet to be any research to support the idea that organic period products can reduce the severity or duration of menstrual symptoms. And, while Dr. Luvanovsky and many other medical practitioners recommend organic menstrual products, there are still other doctors who are very outspoken about their own belief that organic tampons are no better than conventional.
Even if there is no current scientific evidence linking organic period products to reduced period symptoms, organic products still typically contain fewer toxic chemicals than their conventional counterparts.
If you’re trying to reduce your exposure to chemicals and seek out more sustainable products for your body, then maybe it makes sense to go organic with your period products. Because organic period products could be better for your health, the planet, and may even be better for your period, too.