Non Toxic Period Products for Endo

Today’s episode dives into a hot topic circling the internet: period products. A recent study reveals that tampons contain heavy metals, raising concerns about their safety. In this episode, I explore why this is alarming for consumers and discuss safer alternatives for managing your period.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

-Findings from UC Berkeley's Study: Some details about the recent research from UC Berkeley, which found heavy metals like arsenic and lead in tampons, including both conventional and organic cotton products.

-Health Concerns for Women: Why the presence of heavy metals in tampons is a significant health concern and how these substances can affect your body.

-Organic Cotton Pads: Why organic cotton pads might seem like a better alternative but may still be problematic due to the potential of using the same materials as tampons.

Avoiding Conventional Products: Why you need to avoid conventional tampons and pads that contain additional chemicals and fragrances that can disrupt your hormones.

-Exploring Menstrual Cups and Discs: An overview of menstrual cups and discs, including tips on how to choose the best one for you and their pros and cons.

-Period Underwear: Information on period underwear and what to consider when selecting what is right for you.

Being informed about what comes in contact with our body is crucial, especially if you have endometriosis. If you’re worried about heavy metal levels in your body, tests like the HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) can be done with a functional practitioner. This episode is about informing and not to scare you, and provide you with the tools you need to live a better healthier life.   

Resources:

Episode info

UC Berkely Research Article

Join in the FREE Endo Bloat Challenge Sep. 16-20th!

Subscribe to The Endo Belly Girl Podcast:
Apple | Spotify

Connect w/ Alyssa:

• Instagram
• Website

Work w/ Alyssa:

• Free Endo Diet Guide
• Work with me 1:1
• Join The Endo Warrior Circle

Learn more about Alyssa

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational purposes only. This may not be the best fit for you and your personal situation. It shall not be construed as medical advice. The information and education provided here is not intended or implied to supplement or replace professional medical treatment, advice, and/or diagnosis. Always check with your own physician or medical professional before trying or implementing any information read here.

Transcript

Alyssa Chavez [00:00:01]:
Hey, my friend. And welcome back to the Endo Belly Girl podcast. So today's episode is going to be kind of a different format from what you're used to from me, and that's largely because I have been noticing a lot of talk in the news and on social media about this article that came out recently. It's kind of been a hot topic as of late, and I just wanted to talk about it a little bit because I think it's something that's really important for Endo warriors. But like so many things that. That are out there on the Internet and out there on the media, I think it's important that we really understand the facts. So just. Just to.

Alyssa Chavez [00:00:44]:
So you all know what I'm actually talking about here. So I'm not just confusing you. I'm talking about. There was a research article that came out very recently from. It was actually from Berkeley, UC Berkeley, that was talking about. They did some testing on tampons and discovered some heavy metals in there, including arsenic, lead, and cadmium, which are some of the heavy metals that can be toxic, especially in higher doses. And, of course, I've seen so many people sharing this information and, you know, talking about it, and so I wanted to actually look up the research paper itself, the article that came out, to kind of hear it from the source and then break it down for you today. And most importantly, because I feel like the Internet is so full of just fear mongering these days.

Alyssa Chavez [00:01:36]:
It's just a thing, right? You hear all the things that you should be avoiding. This is toxic. That's toxic. And I hear a lot of people come to me and just say, oh, my gosh, Alyssa, I feel like it's so frustrating trying to be healthy, because it seems like everything is toxic. Everything is an issue for our bodies. And I totally get that frustration. I feel that 100%. So I wanted to come on here today, not just to talk to you about this topic, this article that came out, this research paper, but also to share with you some other options.

Alyssa Chavez [00:02:11]:
So if you're hearing this information and going, oh, great, well, now I can't use tampons either. Cool. Now what do I do? So I wanted to leave you with some actual other options, some actionable steps that you can leave with today. So we'll start by talking about that article, especially if you haven't heard about it yet. I want to kind of break that down for you first, and then we'll talk about what you can do instead. So stay tuned for that. Okay, now, I do wanna say first and foremost, that this is why I wanted to dig in and actually do some research on that. So, you know, I'm not just taking it for the word of some media article that came out.

Alyssa Chavez [00:02:55]:
Cause there have been quite a few. So I went and looked, and there is an actual research paper that came out from UC Berkeley. So it is actual real research and should be taken into consideration. This isn't just big media scheme or something like that. And what they did is they tested tampons and figured out that they contained arsenic, lead, cadmium, and other toxic heavy metals. So I just wanted to share a quote. This is from Jenny a. Shearsten, who is a.

Alyssa Chavez [00:03:28]:
She's the lead author on the article and a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and UC Berkeley's Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. And this is a direct quote from her saying, despite this large potential for public health concern, very little research has been done to measure chemicals in tampons. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to measure metals in tampons. Concerningly, we found concentrations of all metals we tested for, including toxic metals like arsenic and lead, end quote. So that's kind of what had been come up with. And it's true, right? It's tampons, right. This. They're something that many people use for.

Alyssa Chavez [00:04:15]:
For many hours a day, for days in a row, you know, every single month, for years and years and years and years. So it is something that is important to be aware of what you're actually putting in your body. I know on this podcast, we tend to talk a lot about nutrition and, you know, the food that we're taking in, which, of course, is super important, too. But when we're talking about things that our body is coming in contact with in general, things that you're putting in in other parts of your body is super important, too. And I think the first thing that's really important to note is that your vagina is highly absorbent, right? You. More so than your skin, more so than most other parts of your body, with the exception of your digestive system, of course, because that's built for the purpose of digestion. But our vagina is very highly absorbent, and so even smaller amounts of contaminants like heavy metals. And this particular research was done specifically on heavy metals.

Alyssa Chavez [00:05:16]:
It doesn't even mean that that's the only issue that might come up, but that's what this particular research was testing for. And so because your vagina is highly absorbent, that means that you do have a higher risk of actually absorbing that into your bloodstream. Now, why are heavy metals even a problem in the first place? Well, that's probably important to be aware of as well. Heavy metals can increase your risk of diseases like dementia, diabetes and cancer. It can also increase your risk of infertility. So that's something that's super important for a lot of endowarriors who might already be struggling with fertility. And it can also impact your liver, your kidneys, your brain, your cardiovascular system, your nervous system, your endocrine system, and can harm fetal development if you do become pregnant. So there's a lot of things that these heavy metals can impact in your bodies.

Alyssa Chavez [00:06:11]:
And just to be clear, we're all going to be exposed to some amount of heavy metals, right? Even I was looking through the research and some of the metals they're testing for, actually of the essential minerals that our body needs, like zinc, I believe was on the list, and copper, you actually need some amount of those in your body. They are essential minerals. Right. But it's just, it's all a matter of balance. It's a matter of how much of that you want in your body. And if you're being exposed at, you know, kind of a higher level and over a longer period of time, like with a tampon that might contain some of those heavy metals, that's where that can become a problem. Now, one thing that I think is really important to note, because I actually didn't realize this until I went in and read the article because I actually even made the mistake. I saw the information shared.

Alyssa Chavez [00:07:04]:
I kind of saw their brief overview of it, and I was like, oh, my gosh. Okay, there's heavy metals found in tampons. I can't say I was overly shocked based on some of the stuff I've heard before about tamponse, but I actually initially thought, reading it, that they were just talking about the conventional tampons, kind of your big name brands. I was not aware that they were also talking about organic brands. And it turns out that they were. They actually tested all different types of tampons because this was actually. Looks like it was well done research. Not all research is super well done, but it was.

Alyssa Chavez [00:07:39]:
They did test both us and European brands. They tested name brands, store brands, and they also tested organic and non organic brands of tampons. And they all contained heavy metals in different concentrations. I know when I looked through the actual research, they were saying that certain tampons were higher in some metals and others were higher in different metals, but they all contained heavy metals. In some concentration. And that really took me by surprise and actually was kind of the catalyst to me creating this podcast episode, because I have for years recommended organic cotton feminine products to those who are looking for a safer alternative. Because many women like tampons. They like that it can be not as messy.

Alyssa Chavez [00:08:30]:
It's a little more discreet than some of the other options, like those giant pads that kind of feel like diapers. I get it. And yeah, it's something that I didn't realize that the organic products still contain some of the heavy metals. So that was kind of a bummer to see. But again, this is why I wanted to kind of lay out all the facts for you so that you can make the best decisions for your bodies. Now, I am hoping this is me over here with my fingers crossed that with this research emerging, more companies will be starting to test their raw materials and hopefully even testing their end products for heavy metals, metals and other contaminants. I know this is something that I learned about. Some of you may have listened a little while back to the episode that I did with Kate Mahoney, who's one of my mentors and colleagues.

Alyssa Chavez [00:09:21]:
And she is actually a supplement expert. So she talks a lot about the quality of supplements. And I know this is not specifically related to tampons, but I'm going to tie it back in, I promise. But she talks a lot about the. You want to look for the companies when it comes to supplements, who do things like test the raw materials that they're using for their products, and also testing the end product for things like contaminants, toxins, heavy metals, kind of depending on what supplement it is. And the better companies do that, the better job, better, more thorough job that a company does with that, the better their product is going to be. And so I'm hoping something similar will start to emerge with feminine products where you'll see the higher quality companies coming in. The companies who are maybe already doing organic products and things that are better for our bodies will hopefully be doing a little bit more testing and trying to reduce the amount of toxins that people might be coming into contact with, because it is super important.

Alyssa Chavez [00:10:29]:
And I know that there is a population of us who really care about this stuff, really want to make the best decisions for our bodies. That being said, even though I have my fingers crossed that that will begin to evolve and change as this research is finally being done. It's probably not going to happen overnight. We're probably not going to wake up tomorrow and find products on the shelf where they're saying everything is good. They've been tested, they're using better quality materials, they've done end product testing. And honestly, if that did show up on the shelf tomorrow, I think I'd be a little questioning that, because how in the world did they do that that fast? Maybe it's possible, I don't know the ins and outs of product testing. I've never actually participated in that part of things. But it just seems like it would be awfully fast to actually make that happen and have those legitimate claims.

Alyssa Chavez [00:11:20]:
So hopefully that will come in the meantime. But we have to think of alternatives and what we can do while we're kind of hoping and waiting for that to happen at some point in time. Or, hey, maybe one of you listening to this will decide to go out and create an organic tampon brand, who will create really good, high quality, do all the heavy metal testing and toxin testing and stuff. If you do, please reach out to me, let me know. I would love to hear about that so I can share all about your products. Anyway, there are still things like organic cotton pads out there. Now, I will say just. This is just my brain thinking, just my logical brain thinking.

Alyssa Chavez [00:12:03]:
Organic cotton pads are probably using the exact same materials as the organic cotton tampons, but they are not being inserted into your vagina. And we talked about the reason that heavy metals in the tampons is a big issue, is because your vagina is very absorbent. If you are not actually inserting it, it's still in the vicinity. So it's, you know, possible there may still be some absorption happening. I don't actually know the ins and outs of that. And, you know, how exactly that would work. But it's still touching your skin. It's still touching, you know, your genitals down there.

Alyssa Chavez [00:12:42]:
So it's likely that if there are toxins present in a pad, it would still be absorbed to an extent, but I would guess probably not as much because, you know, the inside interior of your vagina is the part that's really absorbent. So that's just kind of my two cent. That's not based on any science or research. That's just kind of my logic, thinking about it. But I, as always, encourage you to make the best decisions for your body, taking all of this information into consideration. Right. I would still always recommend avoiding the conventional, like the non organic pads, especially if it's not made of cotton. You don't even know what's in it.

Alyssa Chavez [00:13:27]:
Right. A lot of them have a lot of plastics and things in them. And definitely anything scented. Right. If you are going to be using pads or tampons or any feminine product, definitely avoid anything scented. I know it seems like a good idea because, you know, sometimes you just need a little assistance with scents, you know? But any sort of synthetic scent is not going to be good for your hormones. I think that's something that's really important to be aware of, and it's definitely something I have been a brewing in my head to do an upcoming podcast episode about in the coming weeks because I'm really passionate about that. There really is a lot of kind of loopholes when it comes to scented things.

Alyssa Chavez [00:14:15]:
And so they can include chemicals in synthetic fragrances and not disclose it on packaging, which is pretty nuts. But it's a loophole with the whole proprietal information thing, because their synthetic sense, they don't want to have to share the formula. It's a whole thing. So always, always, always look for 100% organic cotton for any sort of products that you're buying. Right. Conventional products can also contain other chemicals that can disrupt your hormones. Right. So just be aware of that.

Alyssa Chavez [00:14:48]:
Right. Always the 100% organic. I actually wanted to even share a story, so I one time, I actually don't really use typical feminine products a whole lot. I'll talk about what I use in a second. That's kind of been my alternative for the past, I don't know, five plus years now. But I do use some organic cotton panty liners just for kind of extra protection. But there was one time when I was not at home. I was out down in San Diego area, which for me is about an hour away.

Alyssa Chavez [00:15:27]:
And I was out with my husband, and it was one of those days where I was like, okay, well, I need some feminine products now. And I didn't have anything with me. And so there was a target nearby. I had my husband just run me to target and, you know, went in and got what I needed. And I even, you know, specifically looked at target carries some good quality brands. That's why I thought target would be a good option. I know that they carry some, some of the better quality products as far as beauty products and things like that. They have some of the cleaner brands.

Alyssa Chavez [00:15:58]:
Doesn't mean everything they carry is cleaner by any means of. But you can find some cleaner products there if you look. And so I thought it might be the case for feminine products. And I was, in fact, able to find some organic cotton products. And so I bought some, some stuff. I think it was like some pads at the time. And you know, put it in and did my thing, and. And then all of a sudden, I started noticing some.

Alyssa Chavez [00:16:25]:
Some burning down there. Like, burning. All of a sudden, my loins were on fire. Oh, my gosh. I can't believe I'm just sharing this story on a podcast, but I am going to anyway for hopes that it will help somebody else in a similar situation. So I was like, what is going on? I'd never experienced this before. I figured it had to be the pad that I was using because I had been perfectly fine before that. So I didn't think it was like an infection or anything else, but I was like, why in the world would that happen? I got organic cotton.

Alyssa Chavez [00:17:01]:
I've never had any sort of reaction before. What is going on? Well, I picked it up and I really inspected the box of what I had purchased, and it turned out that it actually, even though it was organic cotton, it was scented and not heavily, so it wasn't like when I opened it up, I couldn't heavily smell it or anything, or else I would have caught that from the get go, but had some kind of added something to it. I don't even remember exactly what it was, but I remember looking at the package going, why would they do that? So partly that was my bad, too, because I probably didn't say 100% organic cotton. I don't actually remember, and I don't remember what the brand was off the top of my head, but I do know that I took that box and I threw it away, and I never used it again because it did not feel great on my body. So, anyway, just one more reason that we want to be very careful about the products that we are buying. So one option is using the 100% organic cotton pads that won't specifically be inserted into your vagina. Just knowing that it may. There may still be some heavy metals in there, there may still be some absorption happening, but not as much.

Alyssa Chavez [00:18:18]:
Just, again, this is about you making an informed decision for your body, not about me telling you what to do. So I just want to kind of lay out all the options and the facts here as best as we know them today. The next option, and this is what I actually use myself and have. I believe it's been about five years now since I switched over to using menstrual cups. And there are also menstrual discs, which are very similar. They're a little smaller and flatter. The kind I use are the menstrual cups. It kind of just looks like a little, little, kind of triangular shaped cup.

Alyssa Chavez [00:18:54]:
That you do insert into your vagina. And I have enjoyed using that as much as you can enjoy using feminine products. I will say that there's some pros and cons. So I wanted to share a little bit about just my personal experience with these, because I know when I first heard about it, I think my sister is actually the one who told me about menstrual cups. I had never heard of them. And when I first heard about it, I remember going, mmm, that doesn't sound very fun. You know, just, like, having to take this cup and dump it out and rinse it and what I don't. That doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.

Alyssa Chavez [00:19:30]:
Whereas the tampon, you can kind of just pull it out. Not really. Look at it, toss it, done. And so, yeah, I was a little hesitant at first, but I thought, you know what? I'm just gonna give it a try. Because honestly, my first thought with that was, gosh, I feel like that could save a lot of money. So. Which it has, honestly, over the years, and a lot of waste, for that matter. Right.

Alyssa Chavez [00:19:51]:
How much waste? How much do we throw away? I would be interested to see the statistics on that, just even in the United States. How much waste do we fill up just with feminine products each year, since we're replacing those multiple times a day for several days a month? Some people more, some people less, of course. But, you know, it's a lot. And goodness knows those feminine products have not gotten cheaper over the years either. So that was honestly the first thing that enticed me, because I can't remember. Now, I haven't actually purchased one in a little while, so this may be a little off, and I apologize if it is, but I believe you can still get a menstrual cup for around the $20 mark. I'm sure some are a little more, some are a little less. There's quite a few different brands at this point in time, but they're relatively inexpensive and they're reusable, which, again, I know initially might sound like, oh, why would you want to reuse that? But they are made of silicone, which is a material that, at least as of what we know now, seems to be relatively safe for our bodies, and it's fairly easy to clean.

Alyssa Chavez [00:21:01]:
Right. So it's honestly not as big of a deal as it sounds like. I find them to be fairly comfortable, as long as you find the right fit for you. And I'm going to circle back to that in a second, because I do think that that's something that's really important. It may require a little bit of experimentation to find a comfortable fit, which. Okay. I do understand that that part can maybe get a little bit pricey initially because it's not like you can return it once you use it. I actually, I think at this point, have, like, two or three that I own, and partly is just my body has changed a little bit over the years.

Alyssa Chavez [00:21:38]:
I feel like I kind of need a little bit more than I used to to cover everything. So, you know, our bodies are just all a little bit different. There are different companies that make different sizes and shapes. So I think as long as you have the right fit, it's fairly comfortable. And honestly, I like the fact that it's reusable at this point in time. And I think, honestly, it kind of helps you to understand your cycle a little bit better, too. I'm a big believer in really knowing what's happening in your body. I talk about that a lot, and I think the more that you understand your periods, the better.

Alyssa Chavez [00:22:13]:
I think a lot of us even think this was the case for me. When I first started using a menstrual cup, I looked at it and I go, whoa, that's little. I feel like I'm going to fill that up in about five minutes, and I'm going to spend the entire day in the bathroom washing that out and starting over again. And what actually happened is that it turned out the actual amount of, you know, menstrual blood, I guess that was coming out each month was less than I thought. Right. And I think that's actually the case for many people, not everybody, right. There are some people who just do bleed really heavily, and they do, again, make different sizes to help to accommodate for all of that. But, yeah, it helped me just to understand, like, how much I'm actually bleeding.

Alyssa Chavez [00:22:59]:
And, you know, even are there a lot of clots in your. Your menstrual blood? Because that's something to be aware of, too, that can tell us a little bit about what's going on in your body. What's the color of it? Is like. Is it like a bright red? Is it more brown? Is it black? Is it more of a light pink? All of these. This information that you're getting, which you can see a lot more clearly from a menstrual cup than you can from a pad or a tampon, I think is really important to know. It really tells you a lot about your body. And, you know, it's something that even when I'm working with clients, I'll sometimes ask them questions like that, depending on what other symptoms they have going on, like how, how heavy are your periods? How much are you actually bleeding? Are you, do you have clots in your periods? You know, kind of questioning what else is going on in there because it can give us a lot of information about what's going on with your hormones and other things in your body. So I feel like the menstrual cups kind of help with that.

Alyssa Chavez [00:23:53]:
Cons, I will not say that they are the most perfect solution ever. I did mention earlier that I use some organic cotton panty liners, and that is mostly because I do find that the menstrual cups are not always completely leak proof. They do pretty well. Again, if you get one that fits you well and works well with your unique body, they do pretty well. It's not like, oh, my gosh, there's no point in even having that in, but it's not perfect. And I do find, especially when I'm moving around more, even when I'm sleeping, because I, you know, kind of move around a little bit when I sleep, that they can maybe shift in there a little bit and, you know, there can be a little bit of leakage at times. So something to be aware of, although the better fit you have, you know, the better that that's going to go. So just something to consider.

Alyssa Chavez [00:24:49]:
And coming back to the fit again, I said I was going to circle back to that. I do think that that's a really important piece of it because I have, as I was kind of experimenting a few years back, I know I had one along the way that just at the time was just kind of too big for me. That's why I was saying my body's changed over the years because I feel like now it's, it's not. I actually circled back to using that one years later because, you know, I'm just, I'm not getting any younger over here. My body's shifting and changing a little bit, and so my needs have changed a little bit. And, yeah, there are some considerations, though, and I think the first and foremost is the height of your cervix. Right. So if you're not super familiar with this, I personally, and I know I'm getting, like, super personal with all of this stuff today, you know, I I'm a big believer in just you using the terms as they are.

Alyssa Chavez [00:25:43]:
So, yes, I'm gonna say vagina. I'm gonna say cervix. I think it's important to understand this stuff because, hey, this is stuff that not everybody is willing to talk about and comfortable talking about, but things that I think are important to know as a woman. And one of those things is the height of your cervix. I don't know if everybody is aware of that, but not everybody's cervix is the same height. If you're not sure what that means, if you insert your fingers into your vagina, wash your hands first. I always say that you want to wash your hands before you feel around up in there because like I said, your vagina is highly absorbent. And if you've got some bacteria and stuff on your hands, that can lead to some infections and things that are a little uncomfortable.

Alyssa Chavez [00:26:26]:
So, you know, wash your hands and actually don't be afraid to get comfortable with your own body. Right. Insert your fingers into your vagina and you'll feel up towards the top. You'll feel kind of. How do I describe this? Oh, the things I'm talking about on today's episode. Goodness. Twelve year old me would have been so embarrassed to know that I'm talking about this stuff on a podcast that like hundreds and hundreds of people listen to. But it's, it's all good.

Alyssa Chavez [00:26:55]:
I hope this helps you in some way. But when you, when you stick some fingers up there, you are going to end up feeling your cervix. So that's where your. Basically what you're feeling is, is the base of your uterus and you're going to feel that little opening in there. And that's your cervix. Right. Which can feel. This is something I think it's important to know, too, that that can very much vary the way that it feels throughout your cycle.

Alyssa Chavez [00:27:21]:
Sometimes that cervix will feel kind of softer and more open. Sometimes it will feel harder and more closed. And that depends on where you are in your cycle. Your cervix is going to soften and open a little bit when you are nearing ovulation because it's preparing for potential pregnancy and it's going to be closed and, you know, tightened when you have finished ovulation and you are heading towards your period, heading into your luteal phase, or if you have gotten pregnant during that cycle, not heading towards your period. So if you're checking the height of your cervix, meaning how far up into your vagina it is, it's important that you are aware where in your cycle you are because it will change throughout your cycle. When you're closer to ovulation, it will be feel a little bit. It can feel a little bit higher up. When you're closer to your period, that position can shift a little bit.

Alyssa Chavez [00:28:17]:
So I recommend checking it out closer to your period. I understand. If you don't want to do this during your period, get it maybe a couple days before or somewhere in that vicinity. So that way you have a good idea. If it's a really shallow space, you might need something smaller. Maybe even one of those menstrual discs could be a good option that are a little flatter if you have more space, if you have your cervix is higher up, you may need something a little bit, you know, larger, a little bit longer to kind of fill up that. Fill up that space, be able to support you and take care of your needs during your period. There are also different shapes and sizes and all kinds of different things.

Alyssa Chavez [00:29:00]:
Some are softer, some and more flexible. Some are not. So that this all just depends on you and what feels best and what you like best. Right. But just know that there are, these days, a lot more options out there than there used to be. I have even thought about doing a little more experimenting myself as my body has changed over these last five years and maybe finding something that's a better fit for me, especially since I had. Since I. Like I said, I've been having a little bit of leakage happening that I would not like to have, so may require a little bit of experimentation.

Alyssa Chavez [00:29:33]:
But I. Those menstrual cups or menstrual discs are definitely an option. Okay. Now, the one thing. Oh, and I. Sorry, I talked about the cervical height, but that's definitely not the only consideration. You'll also definitely want to be thinking about how heavy your flow is, how active you are, how old you are. If you've had kids, these are all things that can, you know, shift and shape how your body works and how your body is shaped.

Alyssa Chavez [00:30:00]:
So, considerations for when you're picking something like that now, yes, you do also want to keep it clean. Definitely important. This is what I do, and I don't know, maybe there's better advice than this out there. I'm sure there are people who can offer alternatives, but this is what I do. I, you know, in between, like, on a day to day basis, when I'm on my period, I'll take that menstrual cup out, and I'll just wash it in the sink. Right. Just with soap and water, just to make sure it's clean in between. But what I do do is each month, right, when my period starts, I actually boil mine.

Alyssa Chavez [00:30:42]:
So I take that menstrual cup. It's silicone, so it won't be affected by the boiling water. And I just throw it in some boiling water for, like, five minutes or so just to make sure it's nice and disinfected before I use it again in the new cycle. You could also do that probably at the end of your cycle, and I have done that before, too, but I just feel like, because it's kind of just been sitting around for the last, you know, 30 ish days since I last used it, that I kind of prefer to do it right at the beginning. So I know it's nice and clean before I start. So that's what I do. I'm sure there are other ways. I know they do make some specific, you know, ph balanced cleansers and stuff.

Alyssa Chavez [00:31:23]:
Again, I would just be aware of what's in those things. Right. Or what chemicals might be in there. Are there synthetic fragrances and things that you don't want in your body because you probably don't want to clean your feminine products with that stuff. Another option out there is the period underwear. Right. So this is kind of moving on from the menstrual cups, or you could definitely use it in conjunction with, as well as extra protect, extra protection. There are some companies out there making some good period underwear.

Alyssa Chavez [00:31:52]:
Now, again, the ones you want to look for are going to be the organic cotton. And who knows? We may have the same consideration with that. Okay, it's still cotton. Is it coming from the same sources as those tampons we talked about earlier? Maybe. I don't know the answer to that. But again, at least it's not being inserted into your body, so maybe it's a safer option. It may not be the best bet, though, if you have a super heavy flow. I haven't actually used the period underwear myself.

Alyssa Chavez [00:32:19]:
I've heard good things about it, but I could definitely see how it might not be the best option if you have a super heavy flow. So things to consider. Or maybe use some of that stuff in combination. Right. Using a menstrual cup or a menstrual disc along with some period underwear and kind of experiment with that and see what works. So those are some of the other options. If you know other options than that, those are kind of the ones that I came up with that I'm aware of. But if you know of other options, I feel like there's always new products and things coming out on the market.

Alyssa Chavez [00:32:49]:
If you found something that you like that I didn't talk about. Please share with me. I always love to hear new things because it can definitely help me to share that information with more people and, you know, bring that to my clients as well. So, yeah, if you know of anything else, please reach out to me on instagram, endobellygirl, and I would love to hear from you. So cool. All right, so, yeah, I coming circling back to the study that we were talking about earlier. So, that study on tampons was specifically testing for heavy metals. But in my non scientific but logical brain, I would guess that there would have to be some heavy metals present in the cotton itself, like the raw material that they're using, just because it was so widespread.

Alyssa Chavez [00:33:42]:
So, yeah, just. Just another FYI on that. It could affect other cotton products as well. Again, not to freak you out, I'm not saying we need to just avoid cotton altogether. I don't plan to. I don't plan to, like, go through my closet and throw out everything cotton, you know, because there aren't a ton of really good alternatives. I know just a lot of the clothing material we use is synthetic stuff. I like having something that's natural and, you know, organic.

Alyssa Chavez [00:34:09]:
Not that all of my clothing is organic cotton. I wish I had the budget for that, but I do have some things. I do have, like, some organic cotton underwear and stuff. I plan to continue wearing that, but I think it's just important to have an awareness, have that in the back of your mind as a consideration, right. Especially for things around your genitals, like. Like the tampons. Right. Are just a bigger concern because of how absorbent your vagina is.

Alyssa Chavez [00:34:39]:
So just make your own decisions. Right. Take this information. Do with it what you will. And I want to also mention that I think I said this a little bit earlier, too, but at the end of the day, we're all going to come in contact with some heavy metals, and that's okay, right? Because heavy metals are also present in water, in food sources, we're going to come in contact with them. We just don't want to have too much in our system. It's when we have that heavy metal toxicity that it can start to lead to problems. And also, if our bodies just aren't able to get rid of that stuff to detoxify, things like heavy metals, these are all things that I like to work with my clients on this stuff, too.

Alyssa Chavez [00:35:21]:
Now, if you're not sure if you're listening to this going, wow, is it possible that I have a lot of heavy metals in my body? How would I even know, that that's a great question, and I wanted to answer that for you today, too, because there's different ways of looking at heavy metals, and I'm just going to share the one that I'm most familiar with today, which is a hair trace mineral analysis. So, HTMA for short, you may have heard of this before. It's a test where we basically snip off just a small, simple sample of your hair and ship it back to the lab. And it tests your hair for all kinds of different minerals as well as toxins that can come into your body. So it looks at, you know, sodium, potassium, zinc, magnesium. Those are kind of the main minerals that it looks at, but it can also measure some of the other, you know, heavy metals and toxins. Like, I know it even looks at things like uranium and I think mercury. I can't.

Alyssa Chavez [00:36:22]:
I don't have it in front of me, so I don't remember exactly all the things on it, but it can give you a good idea of what's going on in your body, what things might actually be a problem for you. And I really like it. It's a pretty inexpensive test out of all the functional tests that I do, because I work with things like GI map, which is a stool test. I do blood work with my clients. I do hormone testing, like the dutch test. I have all these different functional tests that I can run on people. And I like HTMA in part because it gives you a lot of information and also because it's. It's a pretty dang, inexpensive test compared to some of the other functional tests.

Alyssa Chavez [00:37:00]:
So it's pretty cool if that's something that you might be interested in. There's a lot of practitioners out there that work with HTMA these days. So, you know, if you're already working with a naturopath or, you know, functional practitioner of some kind, you could ask if they do HTMA. Of course, you can always reach out to me if that's something that you're interested in, but I just wanted to mention that it's an option. If this is something you're concerned about, say, oh, my gosh, I've been using tampons for years, and now I want to know what's going on in my body. Do I need to do some detoxifying? It can give you some clarity on that. And the hair is cool because it gives you basically like a three month history of your mineral status. So it's not like it's just today.

Alyssa Chavez [00:37:45]:
Like it can be for certain. Some of the other testing where it's just a snapshot of right now in the moment. So super interesting information on that. I'm actually going to be doing talking about HTMA more on a future episode because it's super fascinating. It's something that I've gotten into lately. It's just so interesting what you can learn from your hair. I just wanted to throw that in there today just in case you're wanting to kind of learn more about that. And, well, that's all I have for you today, my friend.

Alyssa Chavez [00:38:15]:
But thank you so much for joining me on this journey. I hope that that was helpful for you. And I was able to bring a little clarity to this topic that's been talked about a lot lately. So hopefully you have a better understanding of where things are and some options that you can look into. Of course, if you have any questions on anything that I talked about today, feel free to reach out. I really do love to hear from people because as a podcaster, you know, I'm just sitting here talking into a microphone. And so it's lovely to actually talk to real human beings and get feedback and hear what questions you have because it helps me to make better content for the future. Anyway, so feel free to always to find me on Instagram.

Alyssa Chavez [00:38:59]:
Endobellygirl, you can send me a DM and I would love to chat and get to know you a little bit. And also, if you're just enjoying these episodes and getting a lot out of it, I would love if you can even take a moment to hop onto whatever app that you're using. Well, maybe not whatever. I don't think all of the apps have this, but if you're using one of the major ones, like Apple or Spotify, I would love if you even take a moment to leave me a rating and or review, just let me know what you think of the show, if this has been helpful for you, or if you can think of somebody else who might benefit from this episode. Because even though this podcast is for women with endometriosis, specifically, this episode, I know can be helpful for so many women. So if you know somebody who might benefit from this information, feel free to share. Right? Spread the good word. Help this information get to more people so we can all live healthier and better lives.

Alyssa Chavez [00:39:52]:
All right, my friend, we'll talk soon. Much love.