Welcome to April!
This month makes me think of Spring Cleaning so let’s talk about reducing Toxic Load in our home and for our bodies! We often wonder why we are sick, hurting, or feeling down all the time. Have you considered that your toxic load might be too high? Toxins are everywhere and our bodies are equipped to handle them to some degree. However, when our body is constantly bombarded with toxins, it simply becomes too much and that's when other ailments can begin to surface.
If you're doing any of these things, it may be time to switch some things up.
4 Things You're Doing to Make Yourself Sick
- Using toxic household products
- Eating foods that are full of pesticides
- Breathing in pollutants (especially in our own home!)
- Storing food in plastic containers
Let’s break these down a bit.
#1 Using toxic household products
Environmentalists say that the average home has about 62 toxic chemicals. Ah! Some of the most toxic products in most homes are:
- Fabric Softener
- Laundry Detergent
- Bleach
- Drain Cleaners
- Carpet/Upholstery Cleaners
- Skin Care Products
- Air Fresheners
Solution: Use These Instead:
The Abode Lineis one of my personal favorites to replace dish soap, dish detergent, hand soap, lotion, and more.
#2 Eating foods full of pesticides
If you are not already, now is a great time to study the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 list. This is updated every year and it will show you the food items that have the most and least pesticides.
Solution:
- As a general rule, anything on the Dirty Dozen list should be purchased organic.
- Consider rinsing your produce off with a bit of vinegar and lemon oil too. You can fill the sink with water and let them rinse there.
- You can fill a spray bottle with lemon, vinegar, and water and spritz your produce before storing them.
#3 Breathing in pollutants (especially inside our home!)
You might think that your home has cleaner air than outside, but research suggests this is not always true. Most homes are like a vacuum with the same air moving room to room - especially with the air conditioner or furnace turned on. The number of toxic products you have inside your home also decreases the air quality.
Solution:
- Change your AC filter often. Use the higher grade allergy-friendly option. Add a few drops of essential oils to the filter every so often. Lemon, Abode, Air-X, Purify, and Breathe are great options as they filter out those toxins.
- Diffuse oils every day. The above oils are great options.
- Consider putting air filters in the bedrooms and main rooms of the home.
- Get your air ducts cleaned once a year.
- Deep clean your carpets once a year.
- Have live plants in the home.
#4 Storing food in plastic containers
Your containers can leach chemicals into the food you store them in. This is especially true if you warm food in the microwave while inside that container.
Solution:
- An easy switch could be to use glass containers instead of plastic ones.
- If you must use plastic, be sure they are BPA-free.
Love,
Lisa