Wellness Wednesday

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Almost two years ago, I made the decision to forgo any highlighting or color on my hair. Initially, when I started highlighting my hair, it was because I said I missed my Florida highlights.  Then I became even more vain and wanted to make sure that no one could tell that grey was creeping around my temples and hairline.  However, as I was evaluating my life and how I was contributing to sickness, both in my own body and to the planet as a whole, I realized that the chemicals in hair color products couldn't be good and had to go.  I tried to do some research but didn't have the time to do it justice at the time.

Last week, I picked up a copy of Mary Jane's Farm magazine, one my my guilty pleasures and occasional treats.  In the June/July issue, there was a brief article about studies that connect the use of hair color to various cancers.  Here are the stats that I had been looking for:

• 87 out of 100 breast cancer patients have used hair dye long-term

• Women who changed their hair color (instead of simply masking the gray) tripled their risk of breast cancer.

• Ovarian cancer rates increase by 70 percent for women who colored their hair one to four times per year

• Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and multiple myeloma rates quadrupled in women who color their hair

The article went on to say that the European Union has banned 179 hair coloring chemicals; the US has none.

Although correlation does not necessarily mean causation, these statistics should make anyone pause before making the decision to use hair dye.  Here's the article that Mary Jane's Farm referenced.