Am I the only lone soul who thinks it’s extremely annoying how quickly the everyday products we buy can go from “healthy” to “remove this from your home before your whole family is dead?” I’m sure I’m not.
Case in point: Anti-bacterial soaps and multivitamins.
I was watching NBC Nightly News yesterday and they had a segment talking about the antibacterial hand soaps that have become a staple in our household. Apparently the FDA is now blowing the whistle on two specific antibacterial ingredients found in the soaps (triclosan in liquid soaps and triclocarban in bar soaps). They say there’s no evidence to support that they’re actually any more effective than normal soaps. During the same broadcast, they talked about the fact that two recent studies have found that taking multivitamins didn’t do anything to protect the aging brains of men or the hearts of heart attack victims. And then today I see this article in USA Today that again reiterates that multivitamins have no proven benefit – and, in some cases, can do more harm than good.
The recent news about multivitamins leaves me a little confused and unsure if I should waste my time taking them anymore. But I’ve decided to take a bit of wisdom from someone who once told me “we can only deal with what we have control over.” So, for the time being I will continue to take my vitamins, and when I do my yearly physical in January, I will act like one of those old seniors who asks my doctor a million questions until he basically tells me what the hell to do 😉
As for the anti-bacterial soap issue, I have to admit I’m not very surprised. I’ve always felt like we (as a country) waste too much money buying stuff that we could just as easily make from home – and know what’s being put in it. Our family is one off those “lazy” families, but we’ve begun the LONG, fun walk back to the basic.
Recently, we’ve made a conscious effort in our household to make our own homemade items like laundry detergent and Febreeze, and we’ve started to buy healthier body soaps like this Dr. Bronner’s bar soap from Whole Foods. It’s our way of beginning to control what the hell is in everything we consume or use.
So what, if anything, does your family make on their own instead of buying store bought? Share in the comments section! 🙂
Rambling Hogie 