03 Nov Is Your Home A Source of Toxicity?
Toxins are chemical substances or single elements (like lead or mercury) which cause damage to the body, or mimic the effects of the body’s own hormones causing endocrine imbalances.
Unfortunately there are many substances in our external environments (outside out homes) which contain toxins and which we have little or no control over, so we have to rely on our bodies ability to detoxify such substances. Our body uses a combination of immune system attack and liver detoxification processes to rid our body of toxic substances (and sometimes it just stores it in tissue that turns over slowly like fatty tissue or bone).
This makes it all the more important to make sure we do not expose ourselves unwittingly to additional toxins in our own homes, cars and yards.
Dangerous toxins are found in most cleaning products, body care lotions, shampoo, makeup, hairspray, toothpaste, perfumes, plastic, upholstery, carpeting, town water, new cars, herbicides to kill weeds and more.
The effects of toxins are cumulative and build up over time and from numerous sources.
In our house we try not to bring anything toxic into our home or yard:
- We buy all organic groceries.
- We do not eat foods with any added artificial preservatives, colorings or flavorings.
- For cleaning we only use all natural cleaning products or white vinegar mixed with water.
- We only use natural products on our skin, hair and teeth (no Fluoride which is a toxin) and I make my own face cream using the recipe I learned from Debra Stark at Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord.
- Try to avoid nail salons if possible unless they are using “nontoxic” nail polish and remover.
- We never buy new cars or new furniture due to the significant outgassing.
- We never spray anything toxic on our lawn (if it is green we just mow it with the grass).
- We drink spring water because Acton Town water has Fluoride in it.
- We let new mattresses air out for weeks in a spare room with the window open before sleeping on them (we have not found a natural mattress we liked but make sure we never buy one with any flame retardant in it).
- We store hot food which is left over from a meal in glass not plastic containers
- If you heat or cook anything in a microwave, which we avoid when possible, it is important to always use glass and not plastic containers or bags.
- Over the counter medications are all toxic to the body and should be used with great care and rarely including and especially NSAIDS like Advil, Motrin and Tylenol (if you are using any of these products we can make recommendations for natural alternatives.
If you are not in the habit of shopping for products like these it may take forming some new habits, but it would be worth wile to transform your home inside and out to as healthy and non-toxic an environment as possible for yourself and your family.
There are other considerations besides those listed above, which you can read about in the handout referenced and linked below.
Avoiding toxins is one important way of loving and caring for yourself and you deserve it!
Going through a seasonal or at least annual detoxification process can be helpful but should be done carefully and under guidance because you do not want to liberate toxins from your body tissues that cannot be rapidly and easily excreted. I will cover this topic in a future blog.
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