Staying Healthy While Avoiding the Bathroom

Of course, you realize that it's virtually impossible to avoid the bathroom at all costs though slightly less of a problem for guys than for females. Daily showers are overrated, especially when one considers that a good portion of the world NEVER gets a hot shower! My friend Leslie, living in San Salvador, NEVER gets hot water anyway, and the water is usually so tainted that showering with all orifices closed is the best suggestion. Needless to say, they were very quick affairs when I was visiting...after the initial shock of cold water (mouth agape with screaming), I doubt the soap got too much use: money saving tip!
Anyhow, I think of her every time I nearly scald myself in the shower while luxuriating for ten minutes or so just warming up, given that we keep the house at a balmy 62 degrees during the winter heating months. Even the shower is not a healthy environment,though, as I recently discovered.
In my somewhat irrational need to live longer, I regularly read health tips about what to eat, what not to eat (anything that tastes good), how much exercise to get, what kind of exercise to avoid (anything that requires a shower later), and on an on ad infinitum. Thus, the tidbit about the medicine cabinet caught my eye.
A reporter for the Chicago Tribune posted an article yesterday entitled, "Ten things to get out of the bathroom." I anticipated things like "toilet paper which unrolls from the bottom" or "toothpaste squeezed haphazardly," but what I found was a list of chemicals found in ordinary bath supplies which should be avoided as carcinogens!
To wit:
Triclosan--found in antibiotic soaps, toothpaste and other household cleaners. This is classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a PESTICIDE. I don't need to tell you how that can be bad...of course, if I do, you've probably been exposed to it too much already. But, keep it handy for that obnoxious nephew who comes to visit too often!

Petrolatum and mineral oil--used on the skin, it acts as a kind of "Saran Wrap" which inhibits the flow of air in and out of the pores and leads to premature aging! Believe me, aging comes quickly enough (mostly when one is sleeping, I think) without adding to the effect in an attempt to soften the skin.

Sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate--innocuous-sounding, but deadly, these compounds are found in makeup, shampoo, conditioner, and toothpaste. In commercial uses, these compounds are used to CLEAN ENGINES AND GARAGE FLOORS AT CAR WASHES and the combinations in ones body can produce nitrosamines: good for us? Not so much.

And finally--common, everyday talcum powder; this is used as a drying agent for our bodies, our feet and our babies' bottoms. Avoid it because of its close relationship to ASBESTOS! Seriously, would you put insulation on your body or your baby's butt? didn't think so.

If you are not completely ready to give up bathroom products, read Not Just A Pretty Face by Stacy Malkan. I guarantee that will put a dent in Lancome.
As for me, I'm avoiding the whole bathroom business as much as possible.