re Chemicals or No Chemicals?

[Guest guest]

>It's kind of irking actually because it's like we go from one<

>extreme to the other and there is no in between. I'm the in-between<

>type person.Some stuff I like natural and some stuff, I can do<

>chemicals.<

 

Couldn't agree more with Michele and her comments on chemicals. the

FACTS are the aromatherapy world has been using essential oils

containing synthetic chemicals since the therapy was invented in the

mid 50s. Some of those chemicals are better tested for safety than

the oils they are used in. That does not of course take account of

the issue of fraud which it is if someone knowingly passed off a semi

synthetic product as being " natural " .

 

>So I was wondering, how many of you use chemical preservatives in<

>your products or will buy products with chemical preservatives and<

>such. Have you had problems with people complaining about them?<

Yes, this is a good question. Cosmetic products should contain

preservatives and most of those are synthetic. Indeed many are

common food preservatives so we get plenty in our bodies. The

aromatherapy and so called " natural " cosmetics trade is full of

people claiming their products are 100% natural and this is often

marketing hype. Even those who use natural preservatives such as

citrus seed may inadvertently be using synthetics because research

has shown some of these extracts themselves contain common cosmetic

preservatives. That alone proves the producers have little confidence

in the ability of this extract to inhibit all bacteria and fungal

contamination.

 

>For instance they say, " ingredients like sodium lauryl sulfate,<

>diethanolamine(DEA) and triethanolamine (TEA) can form nitrosamines<

>are 'among the most potent cancer-causing agents found.' " But they<

>don't list any tests or how the tests were performed.<

 

Yes indeed and this gets back to what I was saying earlier about not

relying on what you read on internet sites. People so easily forget

there is absolutely no policing of internet sites and people can say

and claim what the heck they like. In a recent survey I did of over

300 UK aromatherapy websites, I found a lot making grossly misleading

claims and I think about 10 making claims that are illegal in this

country.

 

The reason for some people who use the word 'natural' as a buzzword

is because they have not educated themselves properly and instead

have relied on the hype out there which is like a fog.

 

I am a qualified herbalist and natural treatments tend to be great

for chronic long term ailments, but for acute life threatening

conditions gimmi the drugs.

 

There are good synthetic chemicals and bad synthetic chemicals. You

can't avoid the later anyway because all countries are contaminated

by them. What people should try and do is to reduce their exposure

to the bad ones as far as they can. That does not necessary even mean

eating organic food because that system is also full of scams. So

you grow your own, fine, but does your soil contain all the trace

minerals we need-doubtful. The best diet is one using a wide variety

of foods from diverse locations. That way you can forget your

supplements and save a lot of cash in the process.

 

>Am I making sense here or just rambling on?<

Not at all, one of the best posts I have seen for ages.

 

Martin Watt

Just about to eat some chocolate biscuits made from wheat sprayed

with who knows what and cocoa with goodness knows what synthetic

additives. As my Dad and his sister are still around and pretty

healthy at 94 and 95 I reckon I have the genes to survive

 

, mquin@m... wrote:

>

> I've noticed that people are becoming more anti-chemical in

anything

> these days and wants everything completely natural. It's kind of

> irking actually because it's like we go from one extreme to the

other

> and there is no in between. I'm the in-between type person. Some

> stuff I like natural and some stuff, I can do chemicals. I believe

> some of them are there for a reason and some of them aren't really

> necessary.

>

> So I was wondering, how many of you use chemical preservatives in

> your products or will buy products with chemical preservatives and

> such. Have you had problems with people complaining about them?

>

> The reason I ask is there is an article in the January 2005 Herb

SNIPPED