Part 3- Reducing Toxins in Your Life

Remember toxins?

toxic: -adjective- acting as or having the effect of a poison; poisonous

It makes sense to limit the amount of these bad guys in your life, right? Remember that if they are in your life, they are in your body, which leads to disease. And if they're in your life, they're in your children's lives too.

Here are recommendations from the editors at Organic Style magazine. (Taken from p.175 of GPRX for Health)

1. Eat lean meats. Consuming leaner meats is a good idea since fats in meat act as chemical magnets for toxins in the environment. I recommend consuming grass-fed or pastured beef or bison (as well as other healthy meat) since these meats are naturally leaner and contain larger concentrations of nutrients and healthy fats.
2. Stick with organic produce when possible. Organic Style magazine quoted a study of children who ate only organic produce, and they had one sixth the level of pesticides in their bodies, compared to those who consumed conventionally grown fruits and vegetables.
3. Avoid certain types of fish and shellfish to lower your exposure to mercury. Canned tuna is a known culprit of mercury, and its consumption should be limited to two cans per week, unless you're pregnant or nursing, in which case it should be limited to one or less. Swordfish and mackerel should be limited in consumption as well. Shellfish should always be avoided, as it is an unclean meat and contains a whole host of toxins.
4. Use a water filter. Don't ever drink your unfiltered tap water! With all the chlorine swirling in today's tap water, a filter for drinking and showering/bathing is a must.
5. Air out your dry cleaned clothes before bringing them into your home. Around 80 percent of the dry cleaners in the US use perchloroethylene, or perc, which does a wonderful job cleaning clothes but is a nasty chemical that has been linked to liver and kidney damage, and cancer. Airing out your dry-cleaned clothes before bringing them indoors will dramatically reducine your exposure to this toxin. Or better yet, find a local dry cleaners who cleans without the use of nasty chemicals.
6. Vacuum often, using a machine with a high efficiency particulate air filter (HEPA) because contaminants often cling to household dust. These filters remove 99.97 percent of particles with a diameter greater than 0.3 microns.
7. Steer clear of carpets and furniture treated with stain repellants, and get rid of chemical- laced household cleaners. Use only natural cleaning products in your home. Most natural food stores carry them, or you can search online for them.

In future posts, we'll go into more specifics on how to actually live out these recommendations. Remember that every step you can take will greatly benefit your body and all those in your home! I dare you to choose at least one of these and start today!