Even after a decade as a sustainable building expert I’m still?surprised by?what’s lurking in products, food we eat, air, water and even medical treatments.

Environmental toxins can be a major trigger for all sorts of illnesses from asthma to cancer. But why is that? Our bodies are designed to remove toxins, clear them out through the help of bile, liver function, our intestines and our sweat. But our bodies?were never designed to get rid of the onslaught of thousands of manmade chemicals we come into contact on nearly a daily basis. Even in the womb, we are exposed to hundreds of manmade toxins

That’s why detoxification support is more important now than it ever was. The first step though is avoidance. If we reduce exposure then we have fewer toxins to detox from our system.

So where do the most common toxins hide?

I’m sure you’ve heard by now that glyphosate is a huge culprit in chronic illness. This chemical was developed by Monsanto as an herbicide and is found in most?conventionally grown crop. So right away, consider avoiding glyphosate by buying organic fruits, vegetables,?meats and any processed foods you eat including junk foods.

I use about 6 body products each day and you may use more than this in your daily morning routine. These products can include an assortment of toxins both clearly labeled and hidden in the term “fragrance” or color”. Just because a product says it has no parabens and is vegan doesn’t mean it’s safe. Be sure to read the labels, if you don’t understand what an ingredient is then look it up on Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database. There they have over 80,000 products tested and rated for you.

Though you can’t control the quality of the water brought to your home you can filter what you drink. The best filter I’ve found is Berkleywater filter with a fluoride filter. Not only does it remove chlorine but it also removes fluoride chemicals added by water treatment plants. I know you believe that without this your teeth would get more cavities but the form of fluoride used by treatment plants is a harmful by-products of the fertilizer industry. Fluoride is a toxin to our thyroid and sadly the current dosage standard is based on a white adult male, not women, children or other ethnicities which tend to be more sensitive to this. However?most water districts consider that a minimum and so usually add more than that. You can look up current chemical reports for your water district on their website.

Though this is a hard one to mitigate for we still can do a few things. Using a HEPA filter home filter is a great first step. Another is to be sure to use non-toxic cleaners in our home and forgo fragrance sprays. Again the Environment Working Group has a great database on this. Generally I use Biokleen all purpose cleaning liquid and dilute that for spray bottle use.???You can also use lemon, water and vinegar to clean nearly anything or you can simply use a microfiber cloth with water. There’s really no need to spend much on cleaning products when the cheaper alternatives are effective and non-toxic. Always be sure to open up windows once a day as well since CO2 levels can increase to three times that of the outdoors! It’s enough to give anyone a headache.

Yes, I went there. Mercury amalgam fillings are perhaps one of the biggest mistakes the dental industry has ever made. Mercury is often stored in the brain which is terrible for overall brain health. Mercury off gasses when we chew our food and brush our teeth. When we have mercury near gold crowns in our mouth, the mercury becomes less stable and becomes the equivalent of 300 amalgam fillings for each single filling. Mercury amalgams is also a cause of autoimmune diseases.

I’m also going to bring up root canals here. Though not what we would consider an environmental toxin, dead teeth left in our mouths harbor pathogens which can result in chronic diseases.

If you’re interested in finding a dentist trained in the proper removal of mercury amalgams and alternatives to conventional root canal treatment, look up the directory of Biological Dentists here.

Knowledge is power when it comes to your health. By making some small and larger changes you can significantly reduce your toxic load.