Minimize the Toxins that Go into the Body

It is not easy to completely avoid toxins because we breathe in toxins, wash with toxic water, eat foods that are laced with dangerous chemicals and use personal care products that contain dangerous ingredients and clean with products that are similarly hazardous. The best we can do is to reduce intake of, or contact with, such substances.Eat organic food. Mass produced foods, whether they are plant foods or animal-based foods, are filled with chemicals. Farmers use chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides on plants. They even spray fruits and vegetables with chemicals that make them shiny and look fresh even if they are not. They routinely give farm animals growth hormones to accelerate growth, antibiotics to prevent infections, and chemicals that enhance milk production. The best you can do is to eat food that is certified organic because it does not contain all those chemicals. If you cannot find organic food, wash all the produce with natural cleaners that you can buy online that can remove harmful chemicals.A good resource for what foods have the least amount of chemicals is at the Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen. The list updates every year so you will need to check back each year. It is important to have these lists downloaded or bookmarked so you can refer to them when first trying to eat cleaner. Avoid processed foods. Foods that are processed are completely changed from what they looked like before processing. The manufacturers add preservatives, acidifiers, taste enhancers, artificial flavors, emulsifiers, artificial colorants, and many other chemicals to improve the shelf life, the taste and the appearance of processed foods. All of these chemicals are causing havoc with health and account for a lot of diseases. Avoid processed foods as much as possible and buy whole foods.A good rule of thumb is to shop the perimeter of the store and avoid the aisles where the majority of processed foods are. You can also join me on my next grocery store tour where I guide you on exactly how to shop. Check our facebook page for the next tour. Use natural personal care products. Do you know that by the time you finish bathing, brushing your teeth, shampooing, conditioning, shaving, moisturizing, perfuming and making up, you have put dozens of harmful chemicals into your body? The body cannot cope with getting rid of so many chemicals and the chemicals accumulate in certain parts of the body causing harm to your health! Doctors have found petroleum jelly accumulated in the breasts of women who have breast cancer. Also, you may have heard that aluminum from anti-perspirants is linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Avoid mass produced chemical-laden products. Either make your own or purchase products that are made from natural substances. Natural oils like coconut oil and olive oil are good for your body whether taken internally or applied to the skin. Add certain essential oils and one or two other ingredients and you have a perfume or a moisturizer or a cleanser or a hair oil or a toothpaste.Use natural cleaning products. Our cupboards are full of all sorts of cleaning products for the floor, the toilet, the cooker, the oven, glass, bathroom, etc. They all contain harmful chemicals that pollute the air in your home. Imagine that your little kids and pets play on the floor that you have just cleaned with harmful chemicals. You can change all that. Either buy online or make your own cleaning products and laundry products. You will be amazed how many products you can make using baking soda, white spirit vinegar, lemon juice and a few essential oils. You will be amazed when a lot of allergies disappear from your household.Don’t ever feel like you have to purchase a product to get your house clean. There are plenty of resources you can refer to clean just about anything. Check out this list of DIY “chemical free” cleaning supplies at Greatist. Drink purified water. Our recycled water is laced with chlorine and fluoride, and a lot of harmful chemicals that get in there from the factories and from our drains. Put a filter on your shower and drink and cook with only purified water. Make sure your water has been purified using reverse osmosis because that is the best way to get rid of toxins.Indeed, our modern life requires us to be very health conscious and to take steps to protect our health as much as possible. You can protect your health my minimizing the toxins that go into your body.