If You Had A Headache...Would You Drink Antifreeze???

Fall certainly came early this year and with it my Fall allergies.  A couple weeks ago I was suffering from a Sinus Headache that would not go away no matter how many aspirins I took.  So, of course, I blamed the aspirins…..they are not strong enough;  they are generic and I need one of those fancy brand name aspirins.  So Jeff drove me to Walgreens where we found ourselves in Aspirin Heaven

There were so many brands to choose from….Bayer, Excedrin, Aleve, Advil just to name a few.  I saw a box of Excedrin Extra Strength and thought that is just what I need.  Extra Strength. I was on day 4 of my headache and extra strength sounded comforting.  So I automatically looked at the ingredients list and in amazement I saw listed “propylene glycol”.  Propylene Glycol?  Why, that is antifreeze!  Isn’t antifreeze poisonous if ingested? And I soon discovered Propylene Glycol is a common ingredient in most aspirins….along with shellac, Titanium Dioxide, SLS and many other toxic and carcinogenic ingredients.  I was amazed.  How does a company get away with putting antifreeze in aspirins?  I soon discovered that it is even FDA approved.  What exactly does “FDA approved” mean anyway?  If you pay me enough money I will let you get away with murder?

So I decided not to purchase any aspirins laced with antifreeze and went home to check the ingredients on my cheap, generic aspirins.  The brand is TopCare, 325mg of Aspirin/tablet.  It did not contain antifreeze, or shellac, or any of the other ingredients that were listed on the “brand name” aspirins which are known to be toxic and to cause a number of adverse side effects.  But what my brand of aspirins DID NOT have was caffeine, which the other brands did have.  So, I placed 3 more tablets of my cheap, generic aspirins in my hand and drank them down with a cup of “organic” coffee.  In about 10 minutes I could feel my headache start to go away.  Coffee is “key”.  The caffeine in coffee acts like a high powered delivery system to get the aspirins into your system.

But being the little Sherlock Holmes that I am, I went to my computer to see how antifreeze got into the production of aspirins.  And much to my amazement, I found that Propylene Glycol (PG as we will call it here) is in practically EVERYTHING! It is in candy, gum, breads, baked goods, make up, skin care products, DOG FOOD?!, medications, salad dressing, baby wipes, deodorant…..it was even in the Table Talk Pie my mother was eating.  I grabbed the box and there on the back….next to the words “Baked with Pride by Table Talk Pie”…was the ingredients list and PG was listed.  Miralax, given to people with IBS, is made up of Polyethylene Glycol which is suppose to be safer but so many people have ended up in the hospital after taking Miralax that the FDA has put it on a “list” of products that can have severe side effects.  How special.  Why not “ban” the product as being hazardous to your health?

The people at the FDA decided that tiny amounts of PG was not really going to hurt you.  Oh, it is toxic, but in teeny-tiny amounts things should be fine.  The fact remains, it is still toxic.  It is still a poison.  And it accumulates in your body.  And the fact remains that it is in practically EVERYTHING…even in your hand sanitizers, e-cigarettes, laundry detergents.  It is fed to cows and sprayed on produce.  So by the end of the day, your body has consumed, absorbed and accumulated a large amount of PG, enough to become toxic and harmful to your health.  And that is why people are now having allergic reactions to anything with Propylene Glycol in it.  People are starting to get sick.  A lot of them are not connecting the dots and do not realize that the bread they eat, the make up they use, the e-cigarettes they suck on, etc. are the reasons why they are developing skin problems, allergies, breathing problems, kidney disorders, joint pain, headaches and the list goes on and on.  But, there are many people who do make the connection between products with PG and adverse side effects.  Cynthia Albertson writes, “I have found that my severe migraines and weird body aches have almost disappeared since I figured this out and started avoiding PG. To add, watch coffee…it is used (PG) for extracting flavor, especially in blends and flavored. Also anything that sprays, such as Febreze, Lysol, hairspray.”

As in the case of Aspirins, the popular brands that are advertised on television may not be your safest choice.  If one really wants to go back to basics, try taking the herb White Willow Bark as an alternative to aspirin.  It has pain relieving and anti inflammatory properties.  Actually, salicylic acid (aspirin) is derived from white willow bark.  It comes in a tea or in a capsule form and can be purchased at your local health food store or on line.  I order my organic herbs from Oregon’s Wild Harvest at www.oregonswildharvest.com.

I hope I have lighted a fire in your mind.  Please be careful when making your purchases.  Always read the ingredients and educate yourself as to what these ingredients actually are.  And always remember, it is safer to live healthy chemical free….