If you’re living with chronic illness, I’m about to share with you information that can help transform the trajectory of your healing journey. For a lot of people, this is the last thing explored. But often, it’s the thing that moves them down the path to healing. I’m talking about environmental toxins.

 

Environmental toxins are related to almost every single chronic illness:

• Diagnoses like autoimmune disease and cancer, asthma and allergies, anxiety and depression
• Frequent headaches, sinus problems, blood sugar dysregulation, and weight issues
• Difficulty sleeping at night, or not feeling well-rested when waking in the morning
• Digestive problems, PMS, brain fog, joint pain, thyroid imbalance
• The list goes on and on

 

Toxins are all throughout our homes. We are constantly being exposed.

 

The Medical Runaround

 

You know what I’m talking about, right? You’ve been to doctor after doctor and just can’t seem to get the help you need. They run the labs and say that everything’s normal. They look at you and shrug their shoulders. Maybe they suggest it’s all in your head. Or, perhaps you’ve gotten a diagnosis but been told you’re just going to have to live with it for the rest of your life.

 

It gets old, frustrating, exhausting. You start to wonder if you should just throw up your hands and accept the hand you’ve been dealt. DON’T!

 

Here’s the thing that your doctor doesn’t know: environmental toxins are a factor in virtually every chronic illness. Every person alive today has a large number of toxins in their bodies. In fact, newborn babies have an average of just under 200. While it sounds bleak, we actually have a significant amount of control over our own exposure.

 

It’s not that your doctor doesn’t care or is bad at their job, they just don’t know! Studies have shown that the average amount of education an MD received around environmental health is just 7 hours. Almost ¼ of all US medical schools don’t include any environmental health training AT ALL.

 

Why environmental toxins are such a big factor on chronic illness

 

Over 84,000 chemicals are listed for use in the US marketplace. 200 have been tested for safety. There are no regulations in place to ensure the safety of a product before it’s brought to market. That means it’s up to you to do the research! BUT, it may not be as hard as you think. We actually have a lot of control over our toxic exposures.

 

Here’s the thing: the majority of your exposure is in your home. Studies have found our home to be 5-7x and up to 100x more toxic indoors, even in densely populated areas like LA and NYC. To make matters worse, the average American spends nearly 87% of their time indoors!

 

Let’s talk about two significant toxins in your home right now and simple low-cost solutions.

 

Bisphenols

Bisphenols are a class of chemicals found in a variety of products, like:

• Sippy cups
• Food processor bowls
• Blender carafes
• Water bottles
• Aluminum cans
• Cash register receipts
• Recycled paper products

 

You’ve no doubt heard of Bisphenol-A, or BPA. This is just one chemical in this class that leads to a wide variety of hormonal problems. For example, blood sugar dysregulation, weight gain, PMS and sleep disturbances.

 

BPA-free does not mean safe! It’s just been replaced with other bisphenols like BPS or BPF that are just as bad if not worse.

 

Solutions

1. Say “no thanks” to cash register receipts. These are coated with BPA, which can be absorbed through your skin (especially if you used one of those antibacterial wipes when you entered the store.) It can also get on your food, or whatever you purchased.
2. Reuse glass containers like from sauces or peanut butter. Gradually replace your plasticware and water bottles.
3. Ditch the soda. Not only are the sweeteners terrible for you, but those cans are lined with BPA. In fact, most aluminum cans are lined with BPA, from beverages to soups

 

Phthalates

Phthalates are a class of chemicals found in:

• Soft plastics like shower curtain liners and children’s toys
• PVC floor tiles
• Almost everything containing fragrance, such as household cleaners, personal care products, candles and air “fresheners.”

 

Phthalates are associated with a long list of health concerns, including birth defects, lowered IQ, brain fog, allergies, infertility, behavioral and developmental issues including autism, and more.

 

These particular household toxins can feel pretty overwhelming when you consider how ubiquitous they are and the wide range of potential health issues. But, there’s good news.

 

Phthalates have a very short half-life. In other words, if we can get them out of our environment, we can greatly reduce the amount in our bodies’ pretty quickly. In fact, environmental scientists believe that if we were to get all phthalates out of commerce our body burden would be down to zero in a matter of days!

 

We aren’t able to get them out of commerce today, but we CAN get them out of our homes.

 

Solutions

1. Remove everything from your home that lists “fragrance” or “perfume” on the label. When you start looking, you may feel overwhelmed at first. This stuff is everywhere! Just take it one at a time. Or check out the kits at Pure Haven that help households get a jump on making this change.
2. Simply throw out the scented candles, plug-ins and sprays. If you’d like, you can replace these with essential oil products.

 

These actions clearly won’t remove all toxins from your home, but will get you off to a great start! Get on the wait list for my Home Detox course if you want to go deeper.