by Dr. Sol Sernal with APMM Staff
No matter how one looks, we are never contented. There’s always something to complain about. Everybody has their own idea of what beauty is, and nowadays, if we don’t have it, we can have it, as long as we have money.
Currently, there’s a significant growth in businesses that have anything to do with beauty. But not everything we can get is beneficial to us. Let’s take a look at how two of the most popular enhancement medicines widely used today affect our bodies.
Glutathione Pills
So many brands of glutathione pills are out in the market today. There are billboards of famous people showing their glowing complexions because of glutathione pills. Consumers are more interested in its skin whitening effect rather than its health benefits. Glutathione is a substance contained in our cells. Not only does it help our bodies fight free radicals that damage body cells, it also detoxifies harmful chemicals, pollutants, and drugs. One of the side effects of glutathione pills is it makes the skin lighter by protecting the cells responsible for skin pigmentation and blemishes from free radicals.
Taking glutathione supplements long term has been linked to lower zinc levels. Inhaled glutathione may also trigger asthma attacks in people who have asthma [1].
Hormonal Pills
The ovaries secrete two main hormones, estrogen and progesterone.
Estrogen promotes the development and maintenance of female characteristics in the human body such as breast development, pubic and armpit hair growth, the regulation of the menstrual cycle, and reproductive system. Estrogen is responsible for making the bones smaller and shorter, the pelvis broader, and the shoulders narrower. It increases fat storage around the hips and thighs making the body more curved and contoured. It helps to slow down the growth of females during puberty, and increases sensitivity to insulin which influences the amount of body fat and lean muscle a person can develop. It makes the voice box smaller and the vocal cords shorter, giving females a higher-pitched voice than males. The more common side effects of estrogen are breast pain or tenderness, headache, diarrhea, gas, constipation, heartburn, mood changes or depression, and nervousness.
Progesterone helps maintain the uterine lining throughout pregnancy and is necessary for breast development and breastfeeding. The side effects of progesterone may include breast pain or tenderness, dizziness or light-headedness, swelling of feet and lower legs and vaginal bleeding.
A former gay man I know said in an interview that he had taken hormone pills because he wanted to change his body shape. High levels of estrogen in men can lead to infertility, erectile dysfunction, prostate cancer, and the development of larger breasts known as gynecomastia [2].
Taking these supplements without a doctor’s recommendation can be dangerous to our health. If we take them just to look beautiful and gain praises, think again. The Bible says in Proverbs 31:30, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.” (NLT)
1 http:/www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-717/glutathione
2 http://www.endocrineweb.com/endocrinology/overview-ovaries
