Some healthy lifestyle choices are hard. I mean, I struggle to order the salad over the fries. So I set myself up for easier wins with healthier substitutions.
The simplest of these mini-victories comes from swapping out the cleaning and body care products we use most.
It might seem too small to matter, but grabbing the toxin-free shampoo instead of a chemical-filled one can make such a difference in how you feel over time.
Where do toxins come from?
Toxic chemicals are found in our food, our water, the air we breathe, the clothing we wear, the carpet we walk on, and the plastics that surround us.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) conducted a small study and found 287 toxic chemicals, pollutants, and pesticides in a newborn baby’s umbilical cord blood. If our children can be born with this man chemicals present in their system, imagine what the rest of us are carrying around every day!
According to this NCBI study, 90-95% of cancer is caused by environmental factors and lifestyle choices. That means that only 5-10% of cancer is genetically based, and that cancer is a preventable disease in most cases.
By eliminating unsafe products like shampoos, conditioners, lotions, face care products, air fresheners, candles, and cleaners, we can decrease a major load on our body.
How do you know if your home is too toxic?
I have a little challenge for you now: download the EWG Healthy Living app on your phone.
This is an app to scan products and see how safe their ingredients are.
- A green, 0-2 rating means the product has little to no negative long-term health impacts.
- A yellow, 3-6 rating means the product has moderately negative long-term health impacts.
- A red, 7-10 rating means the product has serious long-term health impacts.
If you don’t find your product through the scan you can type the ingredients in to look them up individually.
Start small by scanning just these three things now:
- Your shampoo
- Household cleaner
- Laundry detergent
Anything that comes back higher than a two is up for replacement, so add an alternative to your shopping list.
Once you’ve cleaned up these three areas, move on to scan another three products, such as toothpaste, hand soap, and lotion.
Replace one product at a time if you feel overwhelmed by the changes you need to make. A non-toxic lifestyle is an ongoing process.
Ditch, switch, repeat.
Finding safer products is just that simple!
