Why WayOver wellness?
It all begins with an idea.
The year was 2007, while at the University of Maine at Farmington I started to questions the health effects that my mother and sisters nail polish remover had on them. I had this overwhelming feeling that most consumer based beauty products were and have been instigating the onset of chronic disease and dysfunction in the body for decades.
I thought to myself whom or what allows these products to exist as choices for us consumers. I quickly learned that the Food and Drug Administration was the organization that had the biggest sway over what we get access to as consumers in the realm of beauty and body products.
This idea turned into my research project for that semester and thus was born my passion for advocating for others and myself.
After months of research, calling government officials and different regulatory entities I came to a few conclusions.
One, like it or not our society in the United States is built on consumerism and the game is to capitalize on the people willing to consume products that companies create.
Two, at one point in time in our history as a country the idea of making money became more important than the potential short and long term health effects that chemicals and products have of our fellow country men and women.
Three, I sensed a vibe of plausible deniability from the FDA when it came to the long term effects that beauty products can have on a person or and entire community.
Four, a large majority of the chemicals and compounds used in my mother and sister’s beauty products were already banned and made illegal in Australia, New Zealand and many countries in Europe.
During this time period, as a country we were starting to see major increases in the diagnosis of autism, alzheimer disease, ADHD, Parkinson’s disease and autoimmune diseases. It is impossible to directly claim that nail polish remover or under arm deodorant and other consumer beauty products were the direct culprit to these increases, but I had a sense that they were certainly not helping.
Long story short…I realized that the FDA is not looking out for you or me when it comes to what we put on or in our body. I was under the belief that if anything was on the shelf at a market or store, that it was safe and okay to use. Most of the time the FDA will wait to receive consumer complains that a product isn’t right before they pull it off the shelf.
I had to do something to help inform my family and friends of this new found information.
A decade and a half later, I have created WayOver Wellness to help educate and empower the members of my community. The goal is to introduce nutritional strategies and provide wellness opportunities that support and prevent acute and chronic disease patterns now and in the future.