Truly Natural
Morrocco Method hair care and healthy lifestyles

Educational Article:
 Sodium Lauryl Sulfate: The Archvillain in Synthetic Shampoos

Shampoo manufacturers know that people equate lots of foam and suds with the cleaning power of a shampoo. So they often add enhancing sudsing agents to their shampoos called surfactants.

A surfactant may have high foaming power, but that does not always mean it has a high cleaning ability. Despite the heavy lather, their cleaning properties are often poor. And more often than not, they are hazardous.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - a synthetic surfactant frequently found in shampoo, is one of these agents - a notorious one. Admittedly, its cleaning power is strong - too strong. SLS is similar to detergents found in liquid dish washing soap. It cleans hair so thoroughly, it strips it clean, leaving it so stripped that you have to pour on a chemical conditioner to be able to manage it. But more important than its stripping effect on hair, SLS has highly adverse effects on the body.

Recent tests on animals show that SLS accumulates in the tissues of the eye. Along with its build up, a newly formed protein appears, and this protein is found in cataracts.

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Not only does SLS pose dangers to the eyes, but it strips away our beneficial bacteria, which is our natural defense against harmful germs. It can also be irritating to the scalp, and cause hair loss as well. Because of its long-term retention in tissues, it poses potential problems to the brain as well, and to our systemic organs and glands. It is especially important to avoid SLS after surgery , or after an injury, when the body is healing.

Beware as well of other commonly used surfactants, such as TEA Lauryl sulfate, lauramide DEA, which, along with cocamide DEA and sodium Lauryl sulfate can also cause contact allergies. Ammonium Lauryl sulfate and dodecylbenzenesulfonate acid (DDBSA) are commonly used chemical surfactants as well. There are many more hazardous chemicals in shampoo, in our skin care products and in our food, too, that may be combining in our body in ways that science and medicine still do not understand!

Please, play it safe, especially those of you who are chemically sensitive and have allergies. Read the ingredients of everything; stay abreast of health-related research, and be sure to use as many truly natural products as you can.
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