Parabens are a group of chemicals (esters of para-hydroxybenzoic acid, PHB esters for short) that are contained in many cosmetic products and shampoos as preservatives.
These artificial preservatives are very similar in structure to the female sex hormone estrogen.
Neither as a man nor as a woman do you want to absorb estrogen, because an excess of it is associated with reduced sleep quality in women and promotes increased fat deposits, especially on the legs. Parabens can also disrupt hormonal balance in male fetuses and children, leading to feminization.
Experiments on rats also showed that parabens lower testosterone levels in male animals. In the female animals, the imbalance between testosterone and estrogen also led to side effects.
Make sure that shampoos and care products do not contain any ingredients with the “-paraben” suffix, such as methylparaben, propylparaben, butylparaben, ethylparaben, isopropylparaben or isobutylparaben.
Below are two links where you can have your cosmetics checked:
www.nokomis.at/Contents/Schadstoffe/schadstoff_tabelle.htm
Image: YPSI customer Marijana H. uses paraben-free shower gels and cosmetics.