There are a lot of factors that causes gynecomastia, and this usually include hormonal imbalances, diet, and medications. However most of those who suffer from it overlook the fact that there are also certain chemicals that can contribute to this condition in which they are exposed to everyday.
Aside from the diet or the lack of exercise, one thing that you also need to look into which might have caused your gynecomastia would be those commercial products that you are using everyday. Your shampoo, deodorant and lotions can have ingredients that can cause an increased breast size in men. They are often the ones overlooked but silently, these chemicals slowly build up inside since you use them every day, sometimes to liberal amounts, and eventually causes some deleterious effect.
One particular ingredient which can cause gynecomastia is parabens. It is a widely used preservative to prevent those personal products from spoiling. If you check the list of ingredients usually printed at the back of the bottle of some products, it may list as ethylparaben, butylparaben, benzylparaben, or methylparaben.
Paraben is an active ingredient that is known to be safe and cheap which is why most manufacturers use this in order to make the shelf life of their products longer. However, research that was done during the nineties has exposed the disadvantages that parabens can cause to our system, especially among men.
In a study done in Brunei University by a British research team, they found out that parabens can decrease testosterone (male hormone) levels and mimic estrogen (female hormone). When you repeatedly rub on that lotion, or massage that shampoo on your scalp, you gradually introduce parabens into your system. This build up eventually leads to gynecomastia and even worse, it can also damage your reproductive system resulting to conditions such as a low sperm count.
You can avoid this by looking for organic skin and hair care products. Those that contain any hint of parabens in their products are not approved by the National Organic Program. Therefore be keen on reading the list of ingredients on any personal products you use.
However not all organic are also safe. Other ingredients that were discovered to be also highly estrogenic are lavender and tea tree oils. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, the topical use of products that has these two ingredients causes pre-pubertal gynecomastia in boys. This was also confirmed by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), however it was stressed that more study is needed.
So to be safe and to prevent man boobs from developing, it would be best to take the time to read and be more critical of the ingredients listed on your personal care products.
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