Low salicylate for the body

Salicylates , also known as salicylic acid, are found naturally in plants. They protect the plant from pests and diseases. Salicylates can also be found in many medications, perfumes and preservatives which is why the Failsafe diet excludes these items. Both natural and synthetic salicylates can cause health problems in anyone when consumed in large doses. But for those who are salicylate intolerant, even small doses of salicylate can cause problems. Learn more about the Feingold Diet link under Dietary Considerations for more about avoiding high salicylate foods.

Some common symptoms of salicylate intolerance are: The most common symptoms of salicylate sensitivity are: stomach pain, tinnitus, rashes and itchy skin or hives, asthma and breathing difficulties, headaches, swelling of hands, feet, eyelids and/or lips, bed wetting or increased urination urgency, persistent coughs, skin discoloration, fatigue, sore, itchy or burning eyes, sinusitis, nasal polyps, stool changes like constipation or diarrhea, and mental symptoms like hyperactivity, memory loss or poor concentration and depression.

Our younger son reacts severely and quickly to high salicylate products. More so when eaten or taken internally, but I don’t like to increase his total load unnecessarily so we do our best to find products that don’t aggravate him. Reactions to chlorine is also a salicylate sensitivity. In our home, salicylates create a hyperactive, aggressive and impulsive child who experiences body pains, fatigue and headaches. He also struggles with poor concentration when he is exposed to salicylate, so we see his education suffer too. He literally forgets things he previously knew! Since he has to remain low salicylate in order to maintain a healthy mental and physical state, I’ve had to scour the natural personal care products to find tolerable replacements. It’s very common to see a lot of high salicylate ingredients in natural, plant-based personal care goods so finding natural, low salicylate products is challenging.

Natural personal care products are inherently high in salicylate-containing ingredients, because they are plant-derived. Most natural personal care products utilize ingredients like coconut oil, aloe vera, herbs and essential oils, which are all naturally high in salicylic acid.

Salicylates can find their way into your body in a myriad of ways. When you apply something to your skin, it still has the potential to reach your blood stream (think medicated patches).

Cleure

If you or a loved one needs to avoid high salicylate ingredients that are commonly found in many natural personal care products, like coconut oil and aloe vera, this is the brand for you! Our younger son is very sensitive to salicylate so I’ve had to experiment with a lot of natural products for him.

We use their hand soap (one in every bathroom for my younger son), sunblock and hair gel. We used to use their shampoo, but I don’t love it, to be honest, so we use a brand that we order from outside of the USA. I posted that link in Hair Care. It is not low salicylate, per say, but he hasn’t had a problem with it so I feel like it might be lowER than most natural shampoos.

Cleure offers skin care, oral care, hair care and make-up so look around to see if you like anything else. I’m not a fan of their deodorant which contains potassium aluminum sulfate. There are other deodorant options available below for low salicylate consideration.

Ozone Layer Deodorant

Ozone Layer Deodorant is a two ingredient deodorant! Just shea butter and beeswax infused with oxygen, which works by eliminating the root cause of body odor, all without the use of harmful ingredients like Aluminum, Propylene Glycol, Parabens, alcohol or any other irritating chemicals. It is so effective at preventing and eliminating odor that it can be applied after you are already experiencing body odor because it destroys the very cause of body odor in the first place. Medicinal grade essential oils or fragrances are used in the deodorant for various scents, but an unscented version is also available.

I recommend avoiding any of the scented products, because of the potential for those added ingredients to include salicylic acid.

If you prefer to use Amazon because you are a Prime member, here is a link for the unscented Ozone Layer. The price is exactly the same, but you won’t pay shipping. 😏

Ozone has a unique and very subjective scent, the beeswax adds a hint of honey. It can take a little getting used to at first, but the odor dissipates and doesn’t hang around for long. I like the scent, it reminds me of the smell of a thunderstorm. I know, strange correlation, but thunderstorms are full of ozone and the odor is evident in the air afterwards.

Dr. Mist Deodorant

Finding a natural deodorant that actually works, is long lasting, and is harmless to the skin can be a real challenge. Based on a 7 year study of the Dead Sea, with a breakthrough in physics, Dr. mist is the recipients of many awards, including the Geneva Award and was voted best invention

Dr. mist is oil free, stain free, aluminum and alum free, lasts for days, and is all natural. Originally formulated as a multi-hygiene spray for acne, cuts, kills odour, Dr. mist is marketed as a natural deodorant, with consumers awed at how well it performs.

I recommend avoiding any of the scented products, because of the potential for those added ingredients to include salicylic acid.

Pure O3 - Moisturizer and oil pulling

Pure O3 is the only company I have seen use sunflower oil as an option for moisturizing. Sunflower oil is one of the only low salicylate vegetable oils out there. Pure O3 makes ozonated sunflower oil for the skin which is moisturizing and calming, and has been used in the medical and cosmetic industries for years. It is popular with those who deal with inflammation, acne, skin irritations and redness. It is the second-strongest oil we offer, so it might not always be ideal for sensitive skin. It's recently found a lot of popularity for use with pets. Sunflower is high in Vitamin E and also includes beta-carotene and Vitamin A. Personally, I think this is a brilliant low salicylate option!

Pure O3 uses standard organic sunflower oil, which is stronger than other types of oil. This type, which is high in Linoelic EFA, is the original sunflower oil, and is used in Europe, Cuba, Russia and other countries. Because it is stronger and more effective it has a more liquid consistency.

If this isn’t for you, other moisturizing oil options for the skin to consider are: tallow, cocoa butter and shea butter. You could easily create a personalized face and body cream by gently heating tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower oil and beeswax (or any combination of these) together then pouring it into a glass container to cool.

OIL PULLING - Sunflower oil is historically a top choice oil for oil pulling, and you could amp it up by using ozonated sunflower oil to introduce ozone to the process. Ozone is regularly used by biological dentists to clean out decay and surgical sites.

Organic raw and unrefined Shea Butter

This is an incredible single-ingredient low salicylate option for the lips and skin. We keep little containers of it around for our lips and hands all winter long.

If this standalone ingredient isn’t for you, other moisturizing oil options for the skin to consider are tallow and cocoa butter. You could easily create a personalized face and body cream by gently heating tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower oil and beeswax (or any combination of these) together then pouring it into a glass container to cool.

Organic raw and unrefined cocoa butter

I like the aroma and consistency cocoa butter adds to homemade lip and hand moisturizing products, but it can be used on it’s own as well. We actually use cocoa butter for low-heat cooking as well. It’s very healthy, but has a low heat threshold so use with caution if you plan to cook with it.

If this standalone ingredient isn’t for you, other moisturizing oil options for the skin to consider are tallow and shea butter. You could easily create a personalized face and body cream by gently heating tallow, shea butter, cocoa butter, sunflower oil and beeswax (or any combination of these) together then pouring it into a glass container to cool.

Toothpaste - Uncle Harry’s

Some of the cleanest toothpaste I have found, to date! The ingredients are quite simple and they even have an Unscented Tooth Powder that our salicylate sensitive son has been able to use successfully. He does also use the Unscented Tooth Suds as well, without issues, probably because he uses so little. Cleure (listed above) has a toothpaste as well, if this seems too crunchy for your style. 😉

I mix bamboo charcoal into this toothpaste to kick it up a notch! BAM! Now you have ionic mineral, charcoal toothpaste. 😁

They also have remineralization powder, products for people experiencing pain and sensitivity as well as tooth whitening products.

Ingredients in the Unscented Tooth Suds: Castile soap (water, potassium cocoate, trace naturally occurring glycerin) and ionic minerals.

Ingredients in the Unscented Tooth Powder: Calcium carbonate (natural chalk), sea salt, and mustard seed powder.

Sunblock - Solar RX by Keys

While the ingredients are not SUPER low salicylate, my really sensitive kiddo is fine using this product. The first ingredient is shea butter, so perhaps the other ingredients are so low that even with repeated use at the beach, we don’t see symptoms. I understand that every person will be different, so please use with caution and I would recommend a conscientious trial before applying to the entire body.

If you require something much lower in salicylate, Cleure (listed above) might be your best option. We really like that sunblock too, in fact, it’s a bit thinner in consistency than this one, but I like this one for the purity of the ingredients. We have both and I try to switch it up a bit so we aren’t using the same thing over and over.

I’d also like to throw this out there. Blocking our skin from the UV rays of the sun is actually counterproductive to the concept of skin cancer, because we need elevated levels of vitamin D to prevent cancer. We only use sunblock when we plan to be in the sun for longer periods of time around high noon. We leave ourselves unprotected during earlier and later time periods and even when we go out during high noon, we wait to apply sunblock for about 15 minutes so we can capture the sun’s rays long enough to produce some natural vitamin D. Studies are mounting against sunblock (especially toxic ingredients) as it relates to cancer. But please, do your own research on this and be diligent about keeping track of time if you are going to be in the sun for prolonged periods. Our body only needs about 10-15 minutes of direct sun to produce enough vitamin D for the day. Full skin exposure is ideal too.

If you would prefer to buy with Amazon for the free Prime shipping, here is the link.

INSECT REpellent - RediCare Spray Therapy and Anti Insect Spray

I don’t know if you’v noticed, but most bug repellents are formulated with a soy oil base. I am not a fan of soy, because it blocks nutrient absorption, especially vitamin K which is essential in the metabolism of vitamin D and calcium so I don’t like the idea of exposing our skin to soy products. I have been known to use some of these sprays on clothing however.

For the skin, I really like Redi-Care by Keys. We have never ever been bit by a tick or any other critter, when we are diligent about application. My boys both use this lotion daily during certain seasons to avoid tick bites. It’s the most effective product I have ever used, quite honestly.

NOTE - there are a lot of oils and some essential oils in this repellent, so please test it first before applying all over. My extremely salicylate sensitive son does fine with this even when we are applying it daily, but everyone’s tolerance level and source of exposure sensitivity is different.