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Our Top 5 Holiday Swaps to Keep Your Hormones Happy This Holiday Season

Our Top 5 Holiday Swaps to Keep Your Hormones Happy This Holiday Season

At Functional Fueling, we absolutely love the holiday season – gatherings with friends and family, festive decorations, and delicious meals! 

Amidst all of the joy and celebrations, unfortunately, the holiday season also often increases our exposure to various fragrances and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These are found in so many festive products and winter essentials, from scented candles and perfumes to sugary seasonal beverages. 

These can influence our hormonal health without us even realizing it, especially for those already dealing with hormonal imbalances or blood sugar issues. Today we’re sharing our top 5 holiday product swaps to help minimize your exposure to harmful chemicals and maintain happy hormones this holiday season.

 

1. Branch Basics Beeswax Candles

Candles are key to adding warmth and coziness to your home during the holidays and any other time of year! Most scented candles are made with fragrances that commonly contain phthalates. Phthalates are known endocrine disruptors and accumulate in our tissues. When we burn scented candles, these phthalates release into the air and are easily inhaled. This can be a major source of phthalate exposure this time of year, so we encourage you to eliminate it as much as possible!

We’ve been long-time fans of Branch Basics for their clean, universal cleaning products. And their pure 100% beeswax candles do not disappoint! They are fragrance-free, EDC-free, and give a subtle hint of honey when burned. With 40 hours of burn time, you can enjoy its comforting glow all season long!

 

2. Dona Masala Chai Concentrate 

Naturally, during this season we are exposed to more sweets. While we love a festive holiday beverage just as much as the next person, they usually come packed with sugar and artificial flavors. This can add up to a significant amount of added sugar, and can raise blood sugar levels, worsening any existing blood sugar issues.

A great way to minimize added sugar is by opting for lower-sugar or unsweetened beverages. That’s why we are loving the Unsweetened Masala Chai Concentrate from Dona. Combine 4 ounces of concentrate with 4 ounces of coconut milk for a spicy, festive beverage. 

 

3. Mountain Rose Herbs Organic Essential Oil Roll-ons

Many of the same phthalates and other EDCs that are found in scented candles are also in perfumes. The fragrance industry is essentially unregulated, so companies are able to get away with adding a wide variety of chemicals without having to disclose them in their formulas. The purpose of these chemicals is to make scents last longer, so unfortunately that’s why many “clean” fragrances don’t have the same lasting effects.

We recommend using essential oils if you want the benefits of smelling nice without the EDC exposure. Mountain Rose Herbs is one of our favorite companies for dried herbs and teas, and their Organic Essential Oil Roll-ons are a lovely perfume alternative. They are all skin-safe dilutions, made with organic coconut MCT oil. They also make great gifts! 

 

4. Winter Skincare Essentials: Clearstem & Nassim Skincare

For many of us, the change of seasons also comes with a change in skincare. Our skin is our largest organ, and what we put on it matters! Personal care products can be laden with the same endocrine-disrupting fragrances, phthalates, parabens, and more. Clean beauty and skincare can feel like the wild west, especially with many brands greenwashing and making claims that don’t always translate to safer products. 

Enter two of our favorite brands: Clearstem and Nassim Skincare. Their products are highly effective and well-formulated to get your skin glowing in no time. They only use 100% naturally derived fragrances, essential oils, and plant extracts to scent their products. Use the code “functionalfueling” for a discount on all of your orders!

 

5. Steroid-Free Nasal Sprays: CitriDrops Nasal Spray & Beekeeper’s Naturals Propolis Nasal Spray Max

Our final holiday swap is for anyone struggling with allergies and sinus issues this time of year. Not all nasal sprays are created equal. While steroid-based nasal sprays (like Flonase, Nasonex, Afrin, and more) are effective at decreasing sinus congestion and inflammation, long-term use can have hormonal repercussions. These sprays use corticosteroids, similar to cortisol, our body’s main stress hormone. In the short term, cortisol itself also has anti-inflammatory effects. 

The problems come when cortisol is chronically elevated, which can eventually downregulate our own adrenal gland activity. Chronically high cortisol levels, similar to chronic corticosteroid use, can lead to disruption of our hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as well as adrenal insufficiency.  In addition to producing cortisol, our adrenal glands are also responsible for producing a variety of reproductive hormones. So, when adrenal function is impacted, this can have serious downstream effects on hormone balance. 

We can avoid steroid overuse and mitigate HPA-axis dysregulation by turning to effective non-steroidal nasal sprays. CitriDrops Nasal Spray specifically targets sinusitis caused by mold and other environmental allergens. It helps soothe nasal passages as well as neutralize the pathogens that often cause sinusitis. Beekeeper’s Naturals Propolis Nasal Spray Max is another steroid-free decongestant spray that packs a serious herbal punch and also includes bee propolis, which is naturally antimicrobial.

 

Don’t Miss our FREE Holiday Guide!

We are wishing you all a happy holiday season! Our 2024 Holiday Guide is 27 pages worth of festive goodness. Not only will you find more holiday product swaps and gift recommendations, but you will also get a complete travel guide with meal and snack recommendations and travel workouts. Follow the link here to get your Holiday Guide!

 

 

Written by Romana Brennan, MS, RD

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