Here’s why your energy is tanking

Good hygiene is essential to good health…

That’s why you shower, brush your teeth, wash your clothes and keep your house clean — you’re getting rid of bacteria that have the potential to harm you.

Unfortunately, nowadays, a lot of the products you use to keep clean come with unintended health risks…

You’ve got triclosan in your hand soap, perchlorethylene (PERC) in your dry-clean-only clothes, phthalates in your dish soap, formaldehyde in your shampoo… the list goes on and on.

To top it all off, more products than you’d probably care to know contain another dangerous antiseptic agent — quaternary ammonium compounds (a.k.a. quats).

Quats are found in toothpastes, mouthwashes, lozenges, nasal sprays, eye drops, shampoos, lotions, household cleaner… and so many other everyday products.

The problem is, they’re highly toxic and tied to numerous health problems in humans and animals, including asthma, reproductive problems, skin irritation and gastrointestinal issues.

And the latest study from researchers at the University of California, Davis, reveals exactly why these all-too common chemicals are oh-so dangerous…

Quats are unbelievably bad for your cells

University of California, Davis recently took a closer look at how quats impact human cells. And what they witnessed wasn’t pretty…

They found that quats inhibited a cells’ mitochondria. And if you know anything about cell biology, you know that mitochondria are pretty darn important to cell health…

Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell… and ultimately your body. They break down nutrients to create energy that fuels your cells. As you can imagine, if your cells don’t have enough energy to function properly, bad things happen in your body — your organs don’t get the energy they need to thrive, and eventually they start to fail.

But that’s not even the full, depressing picture of how quats affect your cells…

They also interfere with estrogen production, which explains why they’ve been tied to reproductive issues in animals. It also means they could have a connection to breast cancer.

Now, just so you know, these researchers didn’t have any particular interest in vilifying quats when they started their study. They studied 1,600 compounds and drugs total to see how they affected human cells. It just so happened quats were among the worst.

“Disinfectants that we are putting on and in our bodies, and using in our environment, have been shown to inhibit mitochondrial energy production and the cellular estrogen response,” said study researcher and UC Davis biochemist Gino Cortopassi. “This raises concern because exposure to other mitochondrial-inhibiting drugs, such as rotenone and MPTP, is associated with increased risk for Parkinson’s disease.”

Need more reasons to cut quats out of your life for good? I’m guessing not…

Cutting out quats… and other dangerous chemicals

The best way to avoid dangerous chemicals like quats in your personal care and cleaning products is to simplify…

Clean with vinegar, essential oils and liquid castile soap. Check the labels on all the products you purchase, and follow the rule you follow with food too… don’t buy stuff with long lists of unrecognizable ingredients.

And when in doubt about a personal care or cleaning product, check the Environmental Working Group’s handy databases. They offer a searchable database for healthy cleaning products and one for personal care products.

If you’re a DIYer, you could also make your own shampoo, soap, toothpaste, household cleaner, etc. A quick search on Pinterest will provide plenty of safe and natural recipes to select from.

Editor’s note: Every day, 38.6 million Americans take a single prescribed drug that may facilitate the onset of Parkinson’s disease, increase their diabetes risk by almost 50% and rob them of their most precious memories. Are you one of them? Click here to find out!