I HAVE A SAYING – “YOUR HEALTH IS ABOUT 2 THINGS – WHAT YOU INVITE INTO YOUR BODY AND WHAT YOU KEEP OUT OF YOUR BODY’’
In NEW YEAR NEW YOU PART 1 I talked about how you can assist detoxification pathways in your body which in our toxic world is a must. I was thrilled at how many of you took this message to heart and ordered the WHOLESCRIPTS Xymogen 6 Day Detox Micro Kit. Great way to start the New Year ladies! I must confess however that I am that annoying person (as my patients know) that as soon as you achieve one goal I am moving the goal post. So this month we are moving on to strategies that help you reduce your exposure to toxins in the first place. During your lifetime you are like a bucket filling up with toxins. Detoxification can help to drain the bucket but more importantly you need to quit filling the bucket up. Reducing the foreign man-made chemicals that enter your body and disrupt important functions such as metabolism (yes they can make you fat!), immune function, hormonal health and can even cause cancer is obviously where you should concentrate your efforts. Although it is important, research DOES NOT show that people who detoxify the most live the longest healthiest lives. Instead research shows (read The Blue Zones by Dan Buetter) that people living in a clean environment and eating clean live the longest. If you don’t live in a Blue Zone you need to take steps to avoid the many toxins that are present in your environment.
CAUTION!! This is where it’s easy to become NEUROTIC.
In the last century thousands and thousands of man made chemicals and toxins have been added to our world. To avoid becoming neurotic it’s important to take a common sense approach. Start by choosing to implement changes that fit your lifestyle, budget and schedule. IT’S ABOUT PROGRESS NOT PERFECTION.
HEALTH YOURSELF ACTIONS FOR REDUCING YOUR TOXIC BURDEN
1. FILTER THE AIR YOU BREATHE – Studies have shown, that although toxins come from many sources, the majority of toxins that accumulate in your body come from the air you breathe. Think of it –you eat and drink toxins occasionally or apply them to your body occasionally but you are breathing 24/7. Since I like easy solutions that have a big impact I love reducing my toxin exposure by plugging in air purifiers. You can’t purify every breath of air but you can put an air purifier in spaces you use the most such as your bedroom and office. When looking for a purifier you want a HEPA filter at a minimum since it can filter out very small particles. Some devices add additional filters such as a prefilter to remove larger particles such as lint and hair before the air enters the HEPA filter and a charcoal filter to remove odors. You also want a unit with machinery strong enough to actually exchange the air in the room. I like the brands IQ Air, Blue Air and Air Doctor – I own all three since I like to try things out before I recommend them. The IQ Air HealthPro is the expensive Cadillac (often needed in high density urban areas or for people prone to respiratory issues) and the other two are more reasonably priced. They are all portable so if you want to save money you can just buy one and move it from room to room as needed.
2. FILTER THE WATER THAT YOU DRINK AND USE IN YOUR HOME – The water on planet Earth has been here since the planet was born and no water is pristine anymore. In American, compared to some countries, we do a good job at our municipal water plants cleaning up the water. The municipal process however is only responsible for removing sediment and certain contaminants such as bacteria. When water is tested by third parties we still have many (often hundreds) of contaminants left in the water including many drugs and pesticides. That is why it is always important to filter the water that comes into your home before consuming it.
NEWS FLASH – YOUR REFRIGERATOR WATER FILTER IS NOT VERY GOOD. Anytime you can push a lever and the water freely runs out the pore size of that filter is too large to filter out many of the contaminants. A step up from a refrigerator filter is a filter found in many water pitchers. With Britta, Clearly Filtered or Zero water pitchers you pour the water in and due to the smaller pore size the water stops for a moment before running through. This allows for more contaminants to be filtered out.
My personal favorite water filter is a reverse osmosis unit. These units have a very small pore size, so small in fact, that pressure is needed to push the water through the filter. You can buy units and install them yourself or have it professionally installed. A newer smaller unit AquaTrue Water requires no installation as it just sits on your counter. My reverse osmosis unit was actually installed so that the filtered water is piped to my refrigerator allowing cleaner water and ice to be dispensed from my refrigerator. One thing to note is that reverse osmosis filters remove minerals from your water due to the small pore size so most new units also include a cartridge that adds the minerals back. If the unit does not have a mineral cartridge you can just add drops of trace minerals to your water such as -Wholescripts Concentrace Trace Mineral Drops (follow instructions on the bottle). Adding minerals keeps the ph of the water alkaline.
Install a whole house filter. This type of filter attaches to your water main line and since you don’t want a small pore size slowing down the water coming into your house it mainly removes sediment and chlorine. I like the fact that this type of filter removes the chlorine from the water coming out of sinks, showers and tubs.
Avoid consuming water from plastic due to chemicals that can leach into the water and the presence of microplastic particles that get in the water. Fill a stainless water bottle up at home whenever possible.
3. CHOOSE UNPROCESSED FOODS LOW IN TOXINS – Think of it – even organic food has toxins due to the contaminated water and air it is exposed to when growing – so reducing toxin exposure in food is no easy task! Again the name of the game is don’t get overwhelmed – just do what you can do. Since finding clean food can be hard and expensive – if you can only do one thing AVOID PACKAGED/PROCESSED FOODS. Once you have done that use trusted sources to find the least contaminated natural foods. I like to use www.ewg.org as a resource to help me decipher which foods are sprayed with pesticides (The Dirty Dozen List) and avoid these foods or buy them organic. The Clean List also helps me decide where I can save my organic food dollars. http://www.seafoodwatch.org is a source for finding less contaminated seafood. For beef I recommend grass finished organic which can be hard to find so I usually order from online sources such as http://www.truorganicbeef.com
Avoid storing or consuming food from plastic containers – again due to chemicals that can leach into food and microplastic particles that can get into the food. Avoid cooking food in non-stick coated cookware since the chemicals can transfer into the food.
I have been trying to buy quality food for decades and believe me it has been a work in progress!! In the past it often meant driving to the one store in town that might have healthy options only to find they didn’t or the price was exorbitant. Luckily, over the years, more healthy options have become available either locally or online.
4. CHOOSE BATH AND BEAUTY PRODUCTS THAT ARE CLEAN -The average women uses 10-20 products a day and most contain toxins that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled. To avoid getting overwhelmed I suggest that when your running out of a current product look at it’s ingredient list. You can also use helpful sites such as http://www.safecosmetics.org , http://www.ewg.org, or the Think Dirty app to help you investigate the safety of the product (this app even allows you to scan the barcode of products to see how they rate). If you find your product isn’t favorable look at their list of products to find one with a better rating. Over the years, with trial and error, I have slowly upgraded my bath and beauty products. One example is that my old moisturizer had a long list of ingredients – some of them questionable. I was applying that moisturizer all over my body so it was important to upgrade it. I upgraded to organic sweet almond oil, squalene or jojoba oil which all contain only one natural ingredient and they work great!
5. CHOOSE HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS AND CLEANERS THAT ARE NON TOXIC – The internet is full of resources for how to make your own non toxic products out of natural ingredients or to buy premade nontoxic products such as http://www.toxicfreefuture.org , http://www.branchbasics.com My current favorite household cleaner is hypochlorous acid found at various retailers such as http://www.forceofnatureclean.com www.briotechusa.shop This nontoxic ingredient (our own body produces it) not only can be used for cleaning but it’s also a safe natural disinfectant. It was my go to disinfectant during Covid. It can even be sprayed on your face.
HEALTH YOURSELF CHALLENGE – CHOOSE ONE THING YOU NEED TO UPGRADE IN YOUR LIFE TO REDUCE YOUR EXPOSURE TO TOXINS AND IMPLEMENT IT – THEN ONCE YOU HAVE HAD THAT SUCCESS MOVE ON TO ANOTHER. What’s important is that you get started on this journey. I have actually found that working to reduce my toxin burden is fun and rewarding. It feels good to do it not only for my personal health but anytime I reduce my use of toxins I know I’m also helping improve the environment for everyone.
Finally – my newsletter (New Year New You: Part One) discussed a short detox that can be done several times a year but is not designed for daily use. On a daily basis I use a supplement from WholeScripts – Xymogen’s XenoProtX one in am to help my liver do phase 1 and phase 2 detoxification. I feel that in our toxic world I need that added assistance.
After my last newsletter, a question that I got more than once was from women losing weight. They smartly knew that toxins are often stored in fat and are released when losing weight. They wondered how often they should use the WholeScripts Xymogen 6 Day Detox Micro Kit . Since weight loss can be a long process I recommended to them to do the short 6 day Micro Detox Kit only occasionally (maybe every 3-4 months) but to also use a daily detox supplement such as WholeScripts – Xymogen’s XenoProtX while losing weight and liberating toxins.
Until next time – Wishing you continued good health,
Dr. Brenda Smith
