We live it a world filled with environmental toxins. They are all around us, in the products we use, the food we eat and the air we breathe. So how do we reduce enough to make an impact on our lives and our health without living in a bubble?

Since we can’t do anything to make the air quality better in this instant, it’s about reducing the biggest toxins that we are CHOOSING while also reducing our foot-print so that we contribute to a better and less-toxic tomorrow. That’s right, every time we buy a product or order food we are literally making a choice.

Many of us have given up on trying to figure out what all the crazy ingredients listed on the back even mean or feel overwhelmed by all of the toxic things that are potentially in our food, water and products that they are not transparent about or that we feel we have no control over. That is correct. We do not have control over cutting ALL environmental toxins out of our lives. So let’s focus on the simple and easily accessible fixes.

Before we dive into these solutions, let me give you a brief idea WHY it is hugely important to invest some energy into this endeavor first.

Environmental toxins are the harmful elements found in air, food and products we use. These negatively impact or mental and physical health.

‘Like most complex diseases, cancer results not from a single flawed gene, but rather the interplay of multiple genes and any accumulated damage to DNA caused by environmental factors such as exposure to chemicals, or aspects of lifestyle, such as smoking’ – Amy Roeder, Harvard Public Health.

‘More than two decades of research has shown that air pollution can trigger heart attacks, strokes, and irregular heart rhythms, particularly in people who have or are at risk for heart disease’ – Deepak Bhatt, MD, MPH.

‘Put simply, what you eat directly affects the structure and function of your brain and, ultimately, your mood. If your brain is deprived of good-quality nutrition, or if free radicals or damaging inflammatory cells are circulating within the brain’s enclosed space, further contributing to brain tissue injury, consequences are to be expected’ – Eva Selhub, MD.

*All quotes above are from a conference at Harvard Medical School called Taking It All In: Environmental toxins and your health. You can read the full transcripts HERE.

Here are some impacts you may personally be experiencing from environmental toxin exposure –

Here are some simple steps you can begin taking now in order to reduce the environmental toxins you are being exposed to (and effected by) daily…

  1. Shop organic foods at farmer’s markets
  2. Avoid foods & products in plastic
  3. Switch to organic & natural beauty products that come in glass containers
  4. Switch to using organic non-toxic makeup
  5. Switch to natural non-toxic cleaning products
  6. Diffuse essential oils to clean the air (Lavender oil or OnGuard from Dottera – you can get them HERE)
  7. Store foods and drinks in glass containers
  8. Filter ALL your water (for cooking, drinking & showering)
  9. Use an air purifier
  10. Eat organic non-GMO whole foods
  11. Carry your water in a non-toxic bottle (glass is best)
  12. Ditch the toxic deodorant & switch to a natural, non-toxic one (Read my blog review of the current ones on the market HERE)

 

To see some of my favorite non-toxic products, click HERE

At the end of the day it is all about making progress in a balanced way! Try not to get bogged down and overwhelmed. Taking one step to reduce one toxin from your life is better than none. Start where you are and move forward from there.

In Wellness,