Dr. Silberman – Speaking Engagement Review

Dr. Adam Silberman

Beautycounter is about cancer prevention. That’s why we always say we’re a movement to get safer products into the hands of everyone.

Each month, our extended team gets together here in San Diego (we also do these in other parts of the country if you’re located elsewhere and interested in attending one) to continue educating ourselves on topics and issues related to health and wellness. Last night, our guest speaker was Dr. Adam Silberman, a naturopath in La Jolla who has trained extensively all over the world and who has an impressive list of celebrity clientele (although you would never know it given his humble and goofy personality).

Dr. Silberman’s talk focused on how toxins found in every day products can negatively impact our endocrine system and produce adverse developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune effects. He had so many valuable insights to share but here are a few of what I thought were the most important takeaways:

• He recently treated a 13 year-old patient with severe face, chest and neck acne by having her stop all personal care products for ten days. She wasn’t allowed to use anything on her hair or body except water and apple cider vinegar. By day ten, her acne was completely gone. She was thrilled and immediately wanted to start using her personal care products again to which his answer was “not the same ones you were using before!” 
• Some toxins never leave the body which is why they’re found in human tissue even after a person is deceased. Even something that seems mundane like walking on grass after it’s been sprayed with pesticides can stay in your body forever. Skin is our largest organ and it absorbs whatever it comes into contact with–just think about how nicotine patches and pain relief creams get absorbed into the skin. The same goes for the shampoo, lotion, sunscreen and makeup we’re using on our bodies every day. 
• We have to be our own health advocates! The amount of toxins he sees in some of his patients’ blood work is off the charts yet our government doesn’t do much of anything to protect our health when it comes to the personal care industry. Because of the lack of overall regulation and loopholes with things like transparency, reading labels isn’t enough–we must do our research using resources like the Environmental Working Group.