- After eating Chinese take away
- When helping someone hang their laundry on a line
Having much better skin than in the past, I have become complacent. The worst thing about eczema is when you go into "destroy mode", it is hard to break yourself out of the deadlock hold of "the scratch" especially when you're trying to sleep.
MSG Destruction
The work place wanted to have a Fat Friday as a team meal and was persuaded to partake in a Chinese take away. I have avoided foods that have chemically laced MSG such as Chinese restaurants for such a long time and the skin condition was pretty good, I thought why not. It tasted quite satisfying.......but then the aftermath of an MSG feast. Headache, restlessnest and a darn itchy neck. My neck is an MSG / dehydration detector and it doesn't take long to destroy skin that has mostly healed.....red, raw and sore before I got up had lots to drink and an antihistamine to stop the itch attack that had now alerted the inner arms, the legs.....everywhere wanted to join the itch party.The next day found several of my colleagues had suffered dehydration symptoms which I can only suggest it is MSG related.
* MSG = mono sodium glutamate. It is a naturally occuring substance added as a flavour enhancer.
Anyhow no more Chinese Take Away EVER for me.....as well as any other foods that contain MSG as an added ingredient (like crisps, processed meats, pot noodles and some seasonings). Me poor neck is a mess.
Parabens & Phthlates
The other day I helped someone put out their laundry, was over powered by the heavy fragrance, and broke out in rashes during the handling of their phthalate / plasticiser infested clothing….(yeah I am sensitive). Why do I blame the phthalate? Cos the smell irritated me. In fact it could also be due to parabens still on the clothes. Parabens and Phthlates are 2 chemicals that is in many liquid soaps (body, hand, hair) and laundry detergents:
- Parabens: preservative to stop the product
going mouldy + potential carcinogen + potentially reduces sperm count
(endocrine disruptor) + skin irritant.The FDA think Parabens are safe:
https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/ingredients/ucm128042.htmThe EU bans 5 types of parabens in cosmetics such as from body creams but still allows it in shampoos/conditioners: http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-14-1051_en.htm - Phthalate: helps to preserve the fragrance in the product. It is used to make plastics and is a potential carcinogen + suspected hormone disruptor
Ref: US National Library of Medicine
The FDA’s think it’s safe https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/potentialcontaminants/ucm128250.htm
The FDA’s think it’s safe https://www.fda.gov/cosmetics/productsingredients/potentialcontaminants/ucm128250.htm
However the EU thinks differently on this and will be restricting the use of 4 types of phthalates: https://www.env-health.org/resources/press-releases/article/europe-finally-recognises-four
Additionally Phthalate exposure has been linked to an increased occurrence of atopic diseases including allergic rhinitis, wheezing, and eczema
FYI: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4626318/The person had told me they had added double the recommended dosage as their clothes were stained with a dye. Unfortunately I had an aggressive itch attack and again only did something about it when I was tearing into my skin making myself feel un well.
Oh well back to the drawing board. Glad the sun is out.....
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