Toxins you’re exposed to everyday

Many people don’t see the need to detox.  I often hear: “How about our grandparents? They never heard about detox and they live a long and healthy life, so why should I detox myself? Isn’t just another fad diet?  Isn’t our body designed to detox naturally?” Well, my answer to this is that our body is indeed well equipped for natural detoxification.  But there are new things in our life right now, substances that are totally new to our body, and to which we are exposed each and single day.  And most of those things are quite recent; it wasn’t like that in our grandparent’s time.

We have been lead to think we live in a world that is safe and (mostly) clean.  But in fact, if we look at a regular person’s day, most of us are in contact with several chemicals and foreign substances that our body haven’t been designed to deal with adequately. And this can lead to a wide range of diseases and health conditions, from Alzheimer to cancer to autoimmune diseases.

Let’s look at a typical example.  As Melanie wakes up, she hop in the shower and wash herself with a fragranced body wash and then wash her hair with the shampoo and conditioner she’ve seen advertised on TV. She then styles it with various styling products.  To keep her skin supple, she lathes some big brand day moisturizer, hoping to hold back the signs of time on her skin, unaware of the amount of chemicals that she already had put on her body since she got up.  She then starts her day with her daily cup of Joe.  She eat an “healthy” breakfast of unsweetened corn flakes with skim milk, along with an apple, not noticing the amount of pesticides and GMO she ingest because she didn’t choose organic produce.  Then, she is exposed to the air pollution of the city, breathes in benzene as she put some gas in her car, and spend all day breathing the formaldehyde leaching from the new office furniture at her desk.  And the day goes on like that, chemicals slowly adding up within her body.  This is a common example, and it’s easy to see how it can be difficult those days to keep toxins at bay.

This is why you must give your body a break.  Your body is simply not designed to handle so many toxins at the same time, each and everyday of your life.  And while there’s little thing you can do to avoid ALL environmental toxins, there’s still many things you can do to lower your exposure.

Toxins sources you are exposed to every day

• Non-organic food
• Construction materials
• Air pollution
• Tap water or bottled water
• Chemical leached in food containers
• Cookware
• Cosmetics
• Drugs and medicine
• Care products
• Cleaning products
• Bacteria
• Perfumes and air fresheners

Most people are in contact with at least 3 of toxins source mentioned above every single day. So the big question is: “How can I protect myself?” Here’re a few things you can do today to lower your daily exposition to chemicals.

How to avoid environmental toxins

Cleaning products

• Avoid mainstream commercial brands
• Choose natural brands from your health food store
• Beware of pseudo-natural products (mainstream brands often use “natural” in their marketing without truly being natural)
• Avoid air fresheners
• Only choose pure natural essential oils
• Make your own cleaning products
• Avoid fabric softeners
• Avoid any product that has “fragrance” or “perfume” in their ingredient list

Cosmetics and care products

• Avoid products without ingredient list
• Avoid perfumes, colognes and “fragranced” products
• Choose aluminum free deodorant
• Beware of pseudo natural products (read the ingredient list!)
• Avoid mainstream care and hygiene products
• Don’t put on your skin products you wouldn’t put in your mouth
• Only use organic feminine care products
• Do you shopping in a health food store instead of in a drugstore

Food

• Use glass jars instead of plastic food containers
• Choose organic produce
• Avoid non-stick pans and choose the healthiest cookware
• Make sure your water is free of chlorine and other chemicals
• Avoid water bottled in plastic
• Avoid alcohol
• Stay away from processed foods
• Don’t use products with food additives or MSG
• Learn to cook
• Avoid food contamination with good hygiene habits
• Avoid artificial sweeteners

Other

• Choose herbal remedies instead of chemical ones when possible
• Keep house plants to detox indoor air pollution
• Prefer natural construction materials when possible
• Avoid staying next to gas stations as much as possible
• Avoid doing exercises or deep breathing in air-polluted areas (don’t, run outside in the city!)
• Wear organic clothes
• Select furniture made of natural materials
• Don’t smoke and stay away of secondhand smoke

Are you concerned with your exposure to chemicals? What are your tips to avoid environmental toxins?