Are Your Cleaning Products Killing Your Gut? July 11, 2025

You’re eating organic, avoiding gluten, sipping bone broth...
But every time you spray your counters, you're inhaling chemicals that could be wiping out your microbiome.

Let’s talk about the gut-disrupting truth hiding in your “lemon fresh” cleaning routine.

🦠 Your Gut Isn’t Just What You Eat

Your gut health is influenced by everything you’re exposed to- including what’s in the air you breathe, the surfaces you touch, and the chemicals that linger in your home.

Enter: household cleaners packed with microbiome murderers.

🚫 Top Offenders in Your Cabinet

1. Triclosan

Once common in antibacterial soaps, it's now banned in some products- but still lurking in others. It disrupts hormones and kills off beneficial gut bacteria.

2. Fragrance (aka “Parfum”)

A legal loophole that hides hundreds of untested chemicals. Many act as endocrine disruptors and irritants that harm the gut-brain axis.

3. Bleach & Ammonia

Powerful disinfectants that sterilize everything, including your skin biome and lungs. Constant exposure can trigger gut permeability and immune dysfunction.

4. Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (“Quats”)

Common in disinfectant sprays and wipes, these are linked to inflammation and gut microbial shifts, even with minimal exposure.

🧠 But It Smells So Clean!

We've been brainwashed to believe “clean” equals sterile + lemony bleach.
But sterile homes = fragile immune systems.
A little dirt helps train your gut and immune system. It’s called terrain building, not germaphobia.

🛡️ How to Protect Your Gut (Without Living in Filth)

✅ Swap Out the Worst Offenders

Replace your all-purpose spray, laundry detergent, and dish soap first.

✅ Look for These Labels

• “Fragrance-free” or “Essential oil scented only”
• “No SLS/SLES, parabens, or phthalates”
• Use EWG.org to double-check products

✅ Try These Gut-Safe Brands

• Branch Basics
• Force of Nature
• Truly Free
• Better Life
• DIY vinegar + baking soda (cheap + gut safe)

✅ Don’t Go Overboard

You don’t need a disinfectant for your kitchen every single day. Save the big guns for actual emergencies, not post-snack crumbs.

🧼 What About Disinfecting Wipes?

Keep ‘em in the car or for public toilets, sure. But daily use at home? That’s a hard nope.
You’re not just wiping the counter, you’re wiping out your defense system.

💛 In Case You Skimmed

• Common household cleaners damage your gut, hormones, and immune system
• Fragrance, triclosan, bleach, and quats are the top offenders
• Swap to low-tox, microbiome-safe products
• A clean home shouldn’t mean a sterilized body