When you’ve had a mentally stressful day, a warm bath is a fabulous way to unwind. Some days you may have pushed your body a bit too much overdoing it in the yard, trying to keep up with the dog (or grandkids) at the park, or engaging in a new activity your muscles weren’t used to.
All of these can result in sore muscles and achy joints. A soak in the tub can help relax your body, quiet your mind, and calm your soul.
Get Clean in the Shower, Relax in the Bathtub
If your primary objective is cleansing your body, you’ll likely jump into the shower so all that dirt and grime goes right down the drain. For radiant skin and additional detoxification, try dry skin brushing before showering.
The bathtub isn’t typically where we go to wash up. Most of us think of a warm bath as something designed to create a different experience altogether. Therefore, I want to make certain your bath isn’t doing more harm than good.
Here’s what this article will cover:
- What are chlorine and chloramines?
- Why are these chemicals detrimental to your health and skin?
- How to dechlorinate your water to protect healthy bacteria, and minimize skin aging.
Chlorine and Chloramines: Two Dangerous Toxins in Water Supply
Chlorinated tap water is the norm around the world, but there are several European and Asian countries that do not add this chemical to the water supply. It is added to all water in the United States.
Chlorine is used for the purpose of removing microbes, including bacteria. Chloramines, formed by adding ammonia to chlorine, are also used to treat drinking water.
Not only will these chemicals disinfect the water, they have the potential to do the same to YOU. There is evidence that chlorine and chloramines can kill the friendly bacteria (which are crucial for optimal health) that reside on your skin and in your gut.
If You Wouldn’t Drink It, You Shouldn’t Bathe in It
You’ve probably been drinking purified water for a while now. Removing toxins and impurities from the water you drink is important, but have you considered the water you shower and bathe in?
Your skin is your body’s largest organ, so absorbing toxins by daily bathing in unfiltered water has the potential to create more toxic exposure than drinking unpurified water.
Before you even stick your big toe into the bathtub to test the water temperature, do make sure your water is as pure as possible. As you soak in your luxurious bath – if you haven’t taken steps to dechlorinate the water – you will absorb chlorine through your skin. Hot or warm water will cause your pores to open up, increasing the likelihood of absorbing even more toxins.
First, let’s see why these chemicals are so harmful. Then I’ll reveal a simple, low-cost method of dechlorinating your water.
Two Ways Chlorine Harms Your Skin
One: Chlorine kills off beneficial bacteria
Millions of microbes reside on the surface (and in the deeper layers) of your skin. To be optimally healthy, you need beneficial bacteria populating your gut, so you should be taking a good quality probiotic every day. Do you know, however, that your skin (again, your largest organ), needs to have a colony of friendly bacteria as well?
Two: Chlorine can cause premature aging of the skin
As a young girl, I spent most summers swimming in my best friend’s pool. Not only did my naturally blond hair develop a greenish tint, but my skin would become dry and flaky as well.
Today, in my late 50s, if I spent a few hours a day in a swimming pool, my skin would likely become dry AND wrinkled. Whether you swim in a chlorinated pool or not, to keep your skin radiant and healthy looking, you must remove chlorine from your bath and shower water.
If you are like the women I work with, you spend time taking care of your health. You know that reducing stress, healthy eating, exercise, and getting plenty of rest will result in healthier, more radiant looking skin.
However, one activity that you probably consider an important beauty regimen – cleansing your skin – could actually be damaging it. If your tap water has been chlorinated, you’ll need to purify it before using it to bathe. Fortunately, there is a simple way to remove these toxins!
How to Neutralize Chlorine and Chloramine
Dechlorination can be done by using Vitamin C.
Option 1: Purchase Effervescent Vitamin C Tablets
Every Christmas, I bought my maternal grandmother Cecelia (“Grandma Cecil”) a large container of bath gelee from her favorite company, Vitabath.
When I got to visit her, I would take a luxurious bath with her wonderfully fragrant bath gelee. These days, if Grandma Cecil were here, I’d have her use Vitabath’s effervescent vitamin C tablets to dechlorinate her water before adding her gelee. You can purchase these tablets on Amazon.
Option 2: Add 1 teaspoon of powdered Vitamin C
Buy powdered vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid. This is all you need to get the job done.
You could also recreate the Vitabath formula, if you prefer. Once you have obtained your chosen form of Vitamin C for dechlorination:
- Fill your tub with very hot water.
- Add 1 teaspoon of vitamin C powder.
- Wait 5 minutes.
- By now the temperature should be right; add more hot or cold water if necessary.
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Do you prefer taking a bath or a shower? Were you aware of the effect chlorine might have on your body? How do you purify your water – drinking and otherwise? Please join the discussion below.
