Healthytarian Minutes with holistic teacher Evita Ochel. This episode provides 10 guidance tips on how to detoxify our homes to reduce the amount of toxins in them, for our best health and wellbeing.
For more guidance on healthy living, take Evita’s online video course, The 5 Pillars of Optimal Health.
Video transcript:
The most important healthy lifestyle habits, like eating a diet based on high quality, wholesome plant foods, drinking enough pure water daily, moving enough and sleeping enough are how we create the best state of health, weight, energy and longevity. However, given the highly synthetic nature of our world today, it is also essential to decrease the stress and burden of toxins on our body by detoxifying our lives, as much as possible. Toxins found in commonly used everyday products can disrupt hormones, damage the nervous system, stress the liver, and cause headaches, fatigue, all sorts of allergies and respiratory conditions.
Here are 10 ways to reduce toxins in your home:
Open windows and air out your house regularly. Due to the high concentration of toxins within the home off-gassing constantly, indoor air quality is almost always worse than outdoor air quality. The more fresh air you introduce, the more you improve your indoor air.
Switch conventional cleaning products to natural cleaning products. Choose fragrance-free versions, whenever possible, and know that simple things like water, baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice are some of the most effective cleaning agents available.
Remove all air fresheners, including scented candles. These are some of the most toxic products and highly irritating for our respiratory system. Use a diffuser with pure essential oils, or natural candles, if any fragrance is desired.
Switch conventional personal care products, to natural options. What you put onto your body is just as important as what you put into your body. Reduce the amount of products you use, and aim to use the least harmful options available. There is an abundance of choices available today for every budget.
Change your bedding to organic cotton and/or bamboo options. Cotton is one of the most heavily pesticide treated crops and chemically treated fibers. The slew of synthetic fibers, including polyester, come with all sorts of other problems. And given that about one-third of your day is spent in your bed sleeping, it is valuable to make it as safe and healthy, as possible. Organic cotton and bamboo mattresses, pillows, covers, sheets and blankets are all widely available today.
Remove carpets and opt for hardwood or tile flooring, as much as possible. Carpets harbor lots irritants and heavily off-gas due to their highly synthetic nature.
Switch plastic food containers, tupperware, cups and bottles for glass, as much as possible. Plastics are highly synthetic and can easily leach toxins into our food, especially if heated.
Avoid PVC — polyvinyl chloride — products, including many shower curtains, toys, vinyl flooring, and garden hoses.
Reduce the amount of stuff you have. One of the simplest and cheapest methods to reduce the concentration of toxins, is to reduce the amount of things we buy and have in our homes. Aim to have high quality versions of what you need for your lifestyle, without all the problematic excess.
Be mindful of what new products you choose to bring into your home. Make conscious choices when you purchase new things, that are both safe and healthy for you and our environment, on our journey of mindful living.
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