Are You Kidding Me???

This blog could also be titled, it's way too hard to be me.

I'm reading a new book about primal living and how to keep it real like our ancient ancestors. It's an interesting book, though I think the author has hyped things up a bit. Every chapter she brings up a new topic - gluten, soy, fats etc etc, - and talks about how terrible each is, all the crazy things it makes your body do, and all the ways it will kill you. And while I personally believe most of what she is saying, I think the tone of her book would probably turn most people off pretty quickly.

Anyhow, I'm not going to spend the ENTIRE blog just writing about a book none of you have read. Instead I'm going to talk about gluten and my hair (or I guess more specifically my scalp).  Hello!

So, about three years ago I stopped eating gluten. I'm not sure I'm allergic, but definitely 'intolerant'. And over the last few years I have found my body is much happier without a daily chocolate chip cookie fix. So I figured with gluten (and various sundry other things) gone, I was happy and healthy.

About a year ago I found out all the terrible things (toxins, cancer causing drugs etc) that are put in many sun screens and cosmetics products. I promptly went to ewg.org and looked up all my products, only to find out that  most of them are leeching terrible toxic sludge into my body (your skin being the largest organ absorbs all kinds of shit it is exposed to).  Some things I adjusted. Some things I decided I couldn't care about and life when on (and I mostly blissfully forgot).

And then I'm reading this book - all cocky because I'm thinking I don't eat gluten, so I'm good -  and come to find out that beauty products have gluten in them and if I'm sensitive to gluten, well guess what, MY SHAMPOO IS KILLING ME.  Yes, I jumped out of bed, and looked at the labels on my conditioner and shampoo and they BOTH have wheat protein. As you can imagine, I didn't sleep so well that night.

The next day I rushed to to Whole Foods and Madison Market, thinking they'd have happy shampoo bottles, sparklingly label 'gluten free'. But no, not only are there no gluten free labels, but all the shampoos there (the ones that I can actually read the ingredients) all have wheat in them too!  And half the stuff in those bottles, who even knows what they are. And yes, you can go online and find gluten free hair care products, but who even knows what else I innocently contact on a daily basis that is killing me through my skin! Car exhaust (duh), clothes?, computers?, the new rubber strap I bought to help stretch, the water Otto drinks from the street after a rainfall?  

Holy Guacamole!  What's an overly conscientious, health  obsessed citizen to do?