Is Lavender An Endocrine Disruptor?

Kirk Parsley
March 12, 2020


What You Need To Know About Lavender

Lavender…

The word just sounds calming, doesn’t it? 

There’s a lot of studies around all the benefits of lavender aroma and how it relaxes you, decreases anxiety, improves sleep quality, etc, etc.

But Lavender also gets some bad press.

When I released my Sleep Remedy Lavender flavor, a lot of people asked, “Isn’t lavender an endocrine disruptor?” 

First, if you’re not familiar with that term, endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can, at certain doses, interfere with your endocrine system. Any system in the body controlled by hormones can be potentially derailed by hormone disruptors.

Common examples of endocrine disruptors:

  • BPAs in plastic
  • Fumes that come from new cars
  • Lead from paint
  • Off Gassing from certain carpets
  • Pesticides
  • etc. 

Below is a quick list of some of the dirtiest endocrine disruptors: 

Endocrine disruptors

BPA

This synthetic hormone can trick the body into thinking it’s estrogen, and the results are pretty terrible. BPA has been linked to breast and other cancers, reproductive problems, obesity, early puberty, and heart disease.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel

How to avoid it? Skip the can and buy fresh food. Watch out for plastics marked with a “PC,” for polycarbonate or recycling label #7.

Dioxin

Formed during industrial processes when chlorine or bromine are burned in the presence of carbon and oxygen. Dioxins can disrupt how both male and female sex hormone signaling occurs in the body. 

How to avoid? This is a tough one as the toxin is prevalent of the US food supply, but one way is to cut down your intake of animal protein. 

Fire retardants

Known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers or PBDEs, these persistent chemicals have been found to imitate thyroid hormones and disrupt their activity. That can lead to lower IQ, among other significant health effects. 

How to avoid? Use a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter and take care when replacing old carpet

Atrazine

A herbicide widely used on the majority of corn crops in the United States. Atrazine has been linked to breast tumors, delayed puberty, and prostate inflammation in animals.

How to avoid? But organic.

Phthalates

A phthalate is a constituent that is added to plastic to prevent it from becoming brittle. Phthalates are most commonly used in beauty care products in the form of fragrances. Studies show that phthalates can trigger death-inducing signaling in testicular cells, making them expire at a faster rate.

How to avoid? Read your product labels! Look out for di-(2-Ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP), di-isononyl phthalate (DINP), di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP) and benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP)

Lead

Lead harms almost every organ system in the body and has been linked to all sorts of negative health conditions, including lowered IQ, brain damage, hearing loss, miscarriage, premature birth, etc.

How to avoid? Get a good water filter, keep your home well maintained, and CLEAN. 

Arsenic

Ingest enough, and arsenic could kill you. In less lethal amounts, arsenic equates to skin, bladder, and lung cancer. 

How to avoid? Get a good water filter

Mercury

Naturally occurring, yes, but hazardous to your health. Mercury gets in the air and water (and eventually your food) though the burning of coal. 

How to avoid? One solution: Look for “wild” fish options vs farmed alternatives.

aromatherapy for hot flashes

What About Sleep Remedy Lavender?

Now that we’ve identified the baddest of the bad, let’s get back to lavender.

First, it’s important to note that lavender is associated with endocrine disruption because it has been shown to act like the estrogen molecule in your body. 

Because it behaves somewhat like estrogen, in certain quantities lavender can impact your body’s estrogenic pathways, disrupting the balance of your estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone.

For women, this can be beneficial or problematic depending on their unique estrogen imbalance. For men, estrogen imbalance can be problematic. 

This begs the question: Why did I choose to create a lavender flavor of my Sleep Remedy supplement?

Answer: The research that proves the negative impact of lavender is focused on subjects ingesting little particles of dissolved lavender either in a capsule, gel, or liquid form. 

My product doesn’t actually have any lavender in it…

????

Have you ever looked at a product package and been semi-confused by words like: “natural strawberry flavoring, but no strawberry…” ???

Here’s a little secret that I only learned after I started making a supplement: 

Natural flavoring means that naturally occurring fruits, vegetables and edible plants and grasses are mixed together to replicate a particular smell or flavor.

It’s a little Willy Wonka, but a common practice in the health industry.

That’s how my lavender flavor is made. That’s how my apple cinnamon flavor is made. Neither product contains actual apple cinnamon or lavender.

All my products are drug-free and GMO-free. 

None of my products contain endocrine disruptors.

Hopefully that clears things up. ????

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Stay in the loop by subscribing to the blog.

Share This Post With Your Friends