Detox Your Home and Body
Posted by Christina Pistotnik
We are typically exposed to many chemicals and toxins on a daily basis. However, please don’t fret because there are simple things you can do to reduce your exposure, starting today!
Why is it important to reduce our exposure to environmental toxin exposure? Well, because chemicals and toxins are endocrine disruptors.
Basically, this means that they negatively impact our hormones, which are not only responsible for reproduction, but also for mood, brain function and metabolism.
While toxins and chemicals disrupt hormones, making a mess of the menstrual cycle and impacting a woman’s ability to achieve and maintain a pregnancy, they can also reduce sperm production and quality. So this isn’t just a female reproductive hormone issue, it’s a male reproductive issue too. As we all know, it takes two to make a baby.
So what can we do?
We can make minor and simple changes to the water we drink, the food we eat, and the products we use regularly.
Water consumption:
We all know that water is important to our body’s wellbeing, so it’s important to drink 1.5-2L/day to stay properly hydrated. For fertility purposes, this is especially important because proper hydration helps with liver and kidney function, which helps the body metabolize hormones and rid the body of toxins.
Because heavy metals can be found in many water sources, I can’t stress enough how important it is to ensure yours is clean, reliable and/or filtered.
If you are unsure about your water source, please look into ways that you can have your water tested and explore different filtration systems.
How you store your water is also important and it is best if your drinking water is stored in a glass, metal, or BPA free bottle. These bottles won’t break down and leach harmful chemicals or microplastics into your water, like commercially bought water bottles do.
However, if you are drinking commercially produced water that is sold in plastic bottles, please please refrain from storing these in your vehicles or warm areas. As plastic heats up, it breaks down and leaches into your drinking water.
Foods
I recommend a well balanced diet, especially including leafy greens, vegetables and a small amount of fruit/berries.
Certain nutrients, like B vitamins can actually bind to toxins to pull them out of our system. Foods high in B vitamins include: whole grains, fruits, legumes, seeds, nuts, and meat products.
If you are trying to conceive it is also very important to take your prenatal supplements, which also have B vitamins in them.
Another nutrient that helps to detoxify is glutathione. The liver needs glutathione to assist in hormone metabolism and foods high in glutathione include: avocados, spinach and walnuts.
Unfortunately, there can be a downside to eating these nutritionally dense foods. Despite containing essential nutrients, they can also be exposed to pesticides and herbicides, which are terrible for the reproductive hormones.
Therefore I advocate eating organic foods when possible and especially those that are classified by the Environmental Working Group as the dirty dozen. These are foods that carry a heavier toxic load from exposure to pesticides and herbicides:
- strawberries
- spinach
- kale
- nectarines
- apples
- grapes
- peaches
- cherries
- pear
- tomatoes
- celery
- potatoes
However, if it’s difficult for you to access organic produce from the ‘dirty dozen’ list, you can do a simple wash. Although this wash doesn’t reduce all of the chemicals, according to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry (2), it does effectively remove a fair amount of the pesticides.
Produce Detox Wash
What you need
Kitchen sink/wash basin
3L water
1 Ounce Baking Soda
How
Fill up the sink/basin with 3 litres of water, dissolve 1 ounce of baking soda in the water and then place your produce into this bath for 12-15min.
Time saving hack
This might seem like one extra thing that you have to do but here’s what works for me:
I make the produce bath as soon as I get home from the store and let my produce soak as I’m putting the rest of my groceries away. By the time I’m finished putting everything away, my produce is good to go!
It feels like minimal effort and making the most of multitasking!
Personal products
A lot of the products we use daily can contain high amounts of endocrine disruptors such as parabens and phthalates. Typically these are in our lotions, makeup, shampoo, and personal care products.
I’m not expecting you to empty your cupboards and closets and throw everything out, that’s definitely not feasible or economical! However, I do encourage you to replace them with healthier versions as you run out.
I’m not here to promote one brand over another, but you can reference the environmental working group’s website.
Another handy tool is the Think Dirty App. This is an app that you can download onto your smartphone to scan products for their toxic rating.
Household Cleaners and Products
Household cleaners carry a lot of chemicals in them. In fact, products that smell especially “good or clean” typically contain phthalates.
One way to decrease the use of these types of products is by switching over to a vinegar and water solution.
How to make your own cleaning solution:
- 4 tablespoons of vinegar mixed with
- 3 cups of water
- 5-6 drops of your favourite essential oil ( if you want some delicious air freshening properties )
**Please Note: Vinegar and water cleaning solution hasn’t been shown to disinfect against the COVID19 virus. Please continue to use disinfectants such as hydrogen peroxide or bleach cleaners for high traffic/ touch areas.
This vinegar and water solution is for dusting and cleaning areas that don’t get a lot of traffic or hands-on use.
Air freshening spray
To make a clean and easy room spray, all you need is:
- A spray bottle
- Water
- 1 tablespoon of baking soda
- 5-10 drops of your favourite essential oil
Fill the bottle mostly with water (not fully, leave some room) add the baking soda and essential oil and you are done!
Air freshener vacuum (canister vacuums only)
If you want to freshen the air in your home as you vacuum, you can try putting 10 drops of your favourite essential oil onto two cotton balls each and placing them into the canister portion of your vacuum cleaner. This will then disperse the essential oil while you vacuum.
My favourite essential oil is lavender, because it has a calming effect.
I hope that the transition into cleaner living is a smooth and burden free process for you.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us !
