How Lavender and Receipts Can Affect Your Hormones

Dr. Amber Klimczak and Dr. Beverly Reed discuss an interesting case where lavender caused hormonal problems. They discuss endocrine disruptors and how they impact fertility. They discuss how to avoid endocrine disruptors and how to stay as healthy as possible.

Transcript

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I am Dr. Beverly Reed and I'm Dr. Amber Klimczak and we are Two Peaks in a Pod. Well, hi everybody. Welcome back. Today I have a good topic for you, Dr. K. I'm really excited. It's a special interest of mine. We're gonna be talking about plastics. Okay? Oh gosh. And it's kind of funny because you know how whenever we're doing a podcast, I try to find a celebrity story that relates to our topic. So let me tell you, when I was trying to look up what happened, this is why I'm not as big of a fan of AI as some people are. Okay? So I look it up on Google, I say. Show me celebrities with, you know, something to say about BPA. That's a type of plastic, right? So, the Google AI says, Well, BPA is a, you know, a chemical in plastic. But many celebrities have BPD, which is borderline personality disorder, a mental health disorder. Not related at all. And then it was a bunch of celebrities. Not even close. Like, okay, no, let's try again. So, I'm like, alright, maybe BPA was a little too technical for girls. Let's just put, show me some celebrities who are against plastic. And instead, they showed me, these are celebrities who are against plastic surgery. And so, are there any out there? I'm curious. Against plastic surgery, never! The wholist of, um, people that are against plastic surgery. Standing strong. Yes, and then I said, wow, this is not working out. So I have no celebrity story, but instead I want to tell you about one of the most interesting cases. And it's a that I learned about when I was in fellowship, okay? So, there was, um, a group of boys in Florida. And, um, what had happened is they were going to the doctor, and these were all just separate boys going to the doctor, and they were complaining that these boys, who had not gone through puberty yet, were growing breast tissue. And the doctors who were treating these boys had gotten together and said, you know, we never saw this before. And now we're seeing this all of a sudden, all these boys that are growing breast tissue. So, why would that be? Why did this happen? And ultimately, what they found is that these boys were using the same cologne. And what they found when they investigated or looked into the cologne, is that this cologne had lavender in it. And lavender, they ultimately found, can stimulate The estrogen receptor, which can cause breast tissue to grow. And when I heard this, I was very alarmed because lavender. I feel like it's in a lot of baby products, you know, like we have, you know, the nice fancy Aveeno baby lotion. That's lab, the soothing lavender. So, you know, lavender, like so toddlers, you know, and young kids are using lavender lotions all the time. Yeah. And at first I was like, Maybe it was just a coincidence, right? But they actually took it down to a molecular level. They actually took lavender and they studied the estrogen receptor and they proved that it was actually able to stimulate the estrogen receptor. So it's really undeniable. And when I saw that, I'm just like, how is there such a disconnect with the commerce world where, just like you said, we see. baby products and really all kinds of self care products. Shampoo, soap, you know, there's a lot of like calming lavender things to do before you go to bed. How is this sold so broadly when we know scientifically that this could create a problem? Yeah, and it's a big problem, but I will say some of us might want some extra lavender in our life. I'm here for it. Two layers for me. Yes. And so, um, you know, as I was learning about this, I thought, okay, well there's lavender, but what are other chemicals that maybe we're surrounded by that can also affect our hormones or that could almost act as a hormone? And, and so, um, oftentimes people will turn this group of chemicals as endocrine disruptors. Meaning that these chemicals can either act as hormones or affect your hormones. And unfortunately, what we've learned over time is we're surrounded by them. And some of them you may not even realize. But, um, Dr. Kate, can you share with us some of the endocrine disruptors that you've kind of seen as you're at the hospital? Yeah. I mean, I think you touched on one of the, um, you know, more common ones, BPA, bisphenol, bisphenol A, phthalates are really common. Um, these are, you know, chemicals that can act sort of like the hormone and unlocks the receptor, the, the key to the door basically to cause one of those hormone pathways to activate. It's in other just everyday stuff, you know, oils like tea tree oil, I think, um, you had mentioned is common. Um, there's lots of difference. small microplastics that we think are disrupting things in our access of hormones. Yes. And when I first started learning about this, I remember being so mad because when I was younger, I used to drink a lot of bottled water because I was really trying to be healthy. Yeah. And then ultimately looking back, I said, Oh my gosh, I was probably causing harm to myself because I was drinking water that was loaded with chemicals from the plastic bottles that it was in and it feels frustrating to be trying to do the right thing. And ultimately, we just didn't know enough at that time to know that that was probably negatively affected by it. Yeah, I think a lot of the original studies on BPA or bisphenol A were actually done on adolescents and levels in their blood. And so, I don't know exactly why they chose to study adolescents or why perhaps they have higher levels. Um, but you're right. I mean, I drink a ton of plastics and this wasn't, you know, I'm not, I don't, I don't think I'm super old, you know, but yeah, you know, I'm saying like, I mean, this is recent data that we're talking about. I mean, the U. S. and Canada didn't really even start recognizing these things until the 2010s and certainly alerts. and restrictions by the FDA. Really, we're not happening until like the mid 2010s. And still, there's so much of this out there. We are not, you know, in any way capable of completely preventing ourselves from being exposed to this. They're just really in everything. But this really is a new concept. And I think so many of us who were raised in the 70s and 80s and 90s, You kind of feel like it's too late. You know, all we ate were packaged foods and drank out of plastic. We didn't know it was a worry. Yeah, absolutely. Well, let's kind of talk about the mechanism by which these substances may cause an issue or problem. And this is where we kind of get into the nerdy territory, but I love it because this is where I, what I actually UQ Southwestern. And so what we ended up doing there is. We took endometrial cells. So these are little cells that grow in the lining of the uterus where pregnancy would usually end. Now, if a woman does not get pregnant, she sheds off her lining and then grows a new one every day. And so we took these cells, we cultured them and we grew them out and then we treated the cells with BPA. And so we had a control group of cells that didn't have any kind of treatment. Um, And then we had varying levels and concentrations of BPA treatment. And then after that, we tested to the cells to see were the cells affected by that in any way. And I will tell you, before I did this experiment, I was a skeptic. I honestly wasn't that worried about BPA or any endocrine disruptors or anything. But it's different. When you are the one growing those cells and you're the ones doing all this testing, and then one day you see your results. It's quite frightening and pretty scary, I would say. Um, and so what we found is that absolutely the cells that were treated with BPA were all affected at different levels depending on how high the BPA exposure was. And what we found too is the level that it affected on is just tiny little levels. So for example, When I was in college, which was a long time ago, we learned about the different types of RNA. And so we've got, you know, messenger RNA and transfer RNA and representable RNA and all these different things. Okay. But what I learned about when I finally went to fellowship training is they had discovered a new type of RNA since I had been in college, which that's kind of jarring. Like, Oh my gosh, I've been alive that long. They've discovered something new, but they have something called micro RNAs. And micro RNAs are these tiny little RNAs, and they don't really code or make any, anything on their own. But what they do is they attach themselves to messenger RNAs, and they regulate the messenger RNAs. So whether that messenger RNA can make the product it's supposed to make in our body, um, you depends on whether that micro RNA attached to it. And so what ultimately happened is the BPA exposed cells had higher levels of certain micro RNAs, which then affected end products such as the estrogen receptor, such as VEGF. VEGF is a molecule that is really important for creating blood vessels in the lining of our uterus and really all throughout our body. And so I'm sure you can imagine if your estrogen receptor and your VEGF, um, receptors are, um, affected in any way that can disrupt some of the normal processes that we have, especially that have to do with fertility. And so when I saw all this, I thought, Oh my goodness. And I kind of panicked and went on my own personal journey on how to get rid of all the plastic. Now you know I'm an obsessive person, right? Could you imagine how crazy I went trying to get rid of all the plastic? I feel like it's, you know, like one extreme or the other, you know, like with most things in our lives like there's either no plastic or all Depends on the day for me Yes, um, so my poor family has to be tortured now with the knowledge that I have of what endocrine disruptors can do and I got rid of anything and everything plastic that I could have but here's what I learned is You There's, you can't get rid of it all. There's, we live in a plastic world, unfortunately, which is very frustrating. I hope it changes in the future. You cannot get rid of all the plastic. It is nearly impossible. Yes, um, but I will say that one of the hard parts about this study is here we're looking at everything on a, Microscopic level, but what we don't really get to see is the exact mechanism because our bodies are so complex. Here I was looking at just, you know, a handful of microRNAs and a handful of its, um, products, but ultimately, what does this mean on a bigger level? And there are some studies that have looked at how endocrine disruptors can affect our fertility. I think you were telling me about one, um, that affected sperm, right? Mm-hmm Yeah, definitely. Yeah, and could affect implantation. I've seen a study that showed worse IVF outcomes if people have higher levels of plastic in their bloodstream. And so, although we may not know the exact mechanism of how it can affect things, I think overall, it's a very reasonable thing to say, Look, there seems to be some alarming Clues that it may affect us negatively. So maybe to be safe, let's try to, we can't eliminate, but let's try to reduce our exposure in an effort to optimize our fertility, both on the female and male side. Yeah, definitely. And I think one thing, sometimes these. these topics can be scary for patients. Um, but I think one thing that's helpful to know is that some of the government agencies in the U S and Canada and Europe have really been working towards getting these chemicals out of our packaging of our food and supplies and have restrictions, which I think are really important restrictions. I think they started at like the basic things, right? So. Baby bottles are, you know, have been protected. They're not allowed to have this phthalates in them in the plastics and the hard plastics. I think my understanding actually with one of the biggest utilities with these types of chemicals is that they make plastic hard. And so it's actually really hard for plastic makers to create models and things without these chemicals, so they've had to go around it. And I think, um, it's nice to know that they are working on preventing it. So a lot of child, uh, food containers that are marketed towards children, baby doll bottles, um, baby packaging and things like that. They've started to restrict at least. I think that's a starting point, right? Yeah, it's a starting point, but as my husband will tell you too, I'm extremely picky on this too, because, you know, for example, my husband would buy, you know, the kids a new drinking container, bring it home and he'd say, Look, babe, it's BPA free. And I'm like, but it's still plastic. And he's like, what do you mean? And I said, well, instead of BPA, to get around the rule, they put BPS. Which is probably worse. Yeah, I know. It's like glass, stainless steel. And that's why I'm such a big supporter of Stanley Cups. Because they are stainless steel on the inside. Now, I will say, though, Um, for Stanley cups or cups like that, I say ditch the straw because a lot of times the straw is plastic. So instead, you can get on Amazon and get a glass or a silicone straw instead. Um, you know what works really well? Just like just a granny glass, just a Cretan barrel. glass out of your cabinet and you just take it to and from work. Super convenient. No straw needed. Dr. K is famous for her grainy glass. She's the only one I know these days, which surprises me because you're so young. So I feel like young trendy girls don't go around carrying a grainy glass, just a grainy glass of water. But you know what? I approve because it's not plastic. My husband doesn't cause all of our glasses go missing. They're like our dinner glass. Well, it kind of reminds me too, when we're talking about Stanley Cups, I remember, um, when we, I think we, when we first started our social media, I had gotten an alert on Instagram that said, you've got a photo that's really performing way better than your usual photo. I was like, what is it? And I click on it and it's a picture of a Stanley Cup that I had put on my Instagram because I said, I was like, for my patients, somebody left their Stanley Cup. And it was so popular. So Stanley Cups are very popular, but I do support that. That's so funny. And then the other thing actually with Stanley Cups is we decided instead of the usual kind of recommendations to have a full bladder for an ovarian transfer, instead of saying, you know, however number of ounces, now we're going to say how many Stanley Cups, you know, drink one to two Stanley Cups before you come because everybody knows what it is. Okay. Listen, Stanley, if you're out there, you have, you have someone you could sponsor here. I mean, this is an untapped market. The fertility market at Dr. Happy Eggs can be a sponsor for Stanley. Okay. But you know what's so funny? Full disclosure. I'm a Stanley Cup guy. I'm very thrifty. So I have the generic version of Stanley Cup from Amazon. It's a, SLM. I don't even remember what that stands for. Um, but it's just the same. It's still cute. It's still functional. Stanley, send her a, send her a cup. That's right. Sponsor a cup. Sponsor a Stanley Cup. Um, okay, so, but then it's important to just figure out, okay, we can't eliminate, but what are all the different ways we can reduce our exposure? So, Yes, using a drinking container that doesn't have plastic is great. But what about our food too? So one of the biggest problems is if you take plastic and you heat it up with your food in there. Do you use plastic Tupperware? Yes. Um, I, so we have some, but I am actually, I am neurotic about heating food in it, and Steven knows this, my husband knows this, I don't let him do it for the girls and stuff. I have a lot of glass Tupperware, but for some reason the glass Tupperware goes missing the first, probably because I'm the one using it, um, but it is nice to have the glass Tupperware. It's It's so much more expensive, you know, than the plastic. So the plastics are easy, um, but to go food, you know, a lot of times, you know, you've got like the curries and the Indian food in the plastic and it's hot and then they put it in there and you reheat it in there and that is just leaching out chemicals when you heat it up. That is a big problem. Um, so if you're going to reheat your food, it really is best to do in glassware, Pyrex, you know, something safe, obviously, um, in the microwave. Um, and the other time that we see it a lot actually is. It's now, I don't know if you'll ever use like the cheat way, like frozen vegetables can come in like a steam bag and you'll just pop them in the microwave and they steam. And when you take the plastic out, you can tell that it's just, and it's gotta be horrible for us, you know? So you're like sitting here trying to get all your vegetables and you're just eating like doused in plastic. Yes. Well, and speaking of vegetables, another source is canned vegetables. Um, usually canned items have EPA too, sometimes in the. The can too. So you have to be careful with that too. So probably the best is fresh vegetables. It kind of reminds me too. Um, I saw somebody pointed out, um, they went to one of those fancy grocery stores like Whole Foods or Central Market or something. Um, they were looking through the grocery section. They saw these oranges, they were peeled and they were put in a plastic container. And the person says, gee, if only oranges had some kind of covering that was not plastic, that would naturally protect them. And they're like, I peeled the orange. It's crazy. Yeah, um, and it's so true. So probably the best is the You know, totally fresh. Um, but again, you know, it's hard to be perfect too. Yeah, but you put your, you put your fresh vegetables and fruits into a plastic bag and you take them home, you know, so it's like unavoidable. I think we should say though, it does make a difference if the food has been stored in a plastic container because most likely those things have been transported, you know, in some sort of heat exposure to have had more time for the plastics to leach into the food. So, but I would say it's nearly impossible to buy a fresh fruit or vegetable and have it not touch plastic. Mm-hmm I mean, it's just impossible. Yes, yes. Yeah. Um, okay, so another source of endocrine disruptors who actually in particular BPA is receipts. And this one, to me was not as obvious. I mean, I feel like. Other plastic is easier to identify, but you wouldn't know that thermal paper actually has really high levels. And it's a problem because often times, let's say you're going to eat fast food, in fact this happened to me today when I was eating fast food, they hand you a receipt, you take the receipt, and then you're about to eat, so you have those chemicals in your hand, And it's such an awkward position because you don't want to be rude. Like if somebody's handing you a receipt, you don't want to be like, I do have funny stories about that. I will, I will say, first of all, I was really weird about this. When I, when I was going through fertility, I wouldn't touch receipts. Um, and then I had an acquaintance that had long like time been going through fertility and she would never touch a receipt. And she said this like exact thing that it was like, She wouldn't get it. Like, she would be at the grocery store or whatever and she would not touch it. Yes, and people look like you're a weirdo if you won't take the receipt. She's like, I won't touch it. See, you can try to give me a receipt. But, you know, they just kind of look like you. And you're at CVS and you have like a 20 foot receipt just hanging out off the fridge. Knows why we're doing that because we don't need our receipts. Yeah. Um, okay. And then other things that are kind of sneaky where you can get exposure is clothing items even. Um, so these days we have all these new types of fabrics and cloths and everything. Um, so for example, we've got Lululemon and Victoria's Secret, and Bori, all these different places. They make these. Super comfortable, comfy, stretchy clothes, but sometimes those clothes that can have endocrine disruptors in it too. Um, and actually I'm disappointed because I just saw a news article that says sometimes sports bras are, um, ones that have a lot in them. I just got new sports bras over the weekend, so I'm like, oh man, this is not good. Wow, I don't think I was aware of this. Yeah, because think about it too, when you're working out, it's really tight against your skin and you're sweating. Yeah. So I feel like that's opening up your pores and then you're getting an expansion. That was more, but I don't really have a solution for that because you need a sports bra. Is there, is there a way for us to know which clothes are more prone to it? Like is it, it tends to be workout clothes it sounds like maybe? It's like the stretching material. Yeah, it's kind of the probably newer more modern fabrics that are available and even more traditional fabrics. Um, don't tend to have it, like, you know, just plain cotton or something, I don't think would be an issue, but, um, these higher technology fabrics seem to have, um, extra chemicals in them, and, and again, that's not obvious. You don't know that until, you know, somebody publishes about it. So, um, yeah, so, um, and then, I mean, another endocrine disruptor, this goes back to the kitchen, is, do you use, like, nonstick pans or anything? Oh my gosh, I've watched so many shows and movies about these pans. This, like, gives me, like, And then you think that you've found a nonstick pan or something that's safe and then you're like, oh no, this one's bad too. I know, because again, they'll just switch out the product and they're using different toxic chemicals. Cook without them. Like pans that don't have something on it. Oh my gosh. They are like just the bane of my existence. Maybe a skillet. My husband's really into one of those, like, it looks like those old, yeah. Like an iron skillet. The old fashioned ones. Yeah. And they say you get some good iron, um, when you're cooking. You're not supposed to wash them. You're supposed to just wash them. It's so funny that you bring that up because this is actually a big argument between my husband and I. Because he tells me that too. You're not supposed to use soap on it. And I'm like, no. We are using soap. You're not supposed to. It just like seasons it. Yes. Yes. This is one of our ongoing arguments. Yeah. It's weird because I'm like, I don't care. They're so hard to clean though. I mean, my gosh, we just, we don't have like that long time to clean up after. Um, and so some of the alternatives I've seen sometimes though, besides an iron ceiling could be, um, ceramics. Maybe like a ceramic cooking and everything. Yeah, I have ceramic, but there's like still some bad data about most of the ones that say they're ceramic. I, that's, that's what we had. I looked it up just recently because you watch the movies that scare you, you know, oh, these chemicals are in your bones forever. And so then I started Googling all of our pans. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, good. Well, I guess I would conclude by saying, you know what, you've got some information about chemicals that could be around us and that they could affect our health and fertility. We think you should use this information to really try to make thoughtful choices about your everyday lives, but also try not to make yourself crazy like I am. And, and you kind of just have to accept that, you know what, we can't be perfect. We can't get rid all of it, but Um, even a reduction likely has a beneficial effect as well. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, good. Well, we'll wrap it up for the week. We would appreciate it so much if you guys would leave us a positive review on our podcast website or on our YouTube or on our peak fertility practice page. Thank you. Have a good week. Bye.