12 ways to reduce toxins in your home
There is no better investment to make than in your health. Some of these tips will save you money, some may require investing upfront to save later. All will help you reduce toxins in your home. It’s all about baby steps – do what you can do, then do a little more. Before you know it you’ve done great things for your body!
1. Replace candles and artificial fragrances with diffusers and essential oils.
What you breathe in can dramatically affect your physical and emotional health so make sure it’s straight from nature, healthy and safe. This time of year everyone loves their house to smell good but burning candles or running scent warmers can come with health consequences you may not even realize. But running a diffuser with some On Guard, cinnamon, clove and other yummy fall flavors can make your house smell so amazing – not only without harmful effects, but with health benefits as well! Its a worthy investment. My favorite diffusers for the bathrooms, my office and the kitchen is the Petal (first one pictured) and for bedrooms its the AromaLite (last one pictured)
2. Cook with stainless or cast iron and avoid Teflon or other non-stick pans and utensils.
Teflon is SO toxic. Did you know that people who have birds indoors cannot cook with anything Teflon-coated because the fumes will kill their birds? And those non-stick pans eventually begin to scratch and flake, right? Those flakes go right into your food. Even the “Green pans” they sell are very fragile and scratch easily. That’s why I love my stainless pans. We’ve had them over 10 years and they are still as good as new! With as often as non-stick pans should be replaced, you will save investing in a quality stainless or cast iron set. It’s a little different to cook in them vs non-stick pans but a little stuck food is more than worth it to know that your food is safe (nothing sticks when you get the hang of it). Cast iron pans are also a safe, long-lasting choice.
Cuisinart 77-10 Chef’s Classic Stainless 10-Piece Cookware Set
3. Ditch the chemical cleaners and make your own or use doTERRA’s versatile On Guard cleaning concentrate.
I cant even walk down the cleaning aisle at the store anymore because the artificial fragrance and chemicals bother me so much. This is an easy one to clean out of your home and you’ll save money making your own! It’s easy, I promise. We love to use the On Guard concentrate for everything. I have one bottle mixed for counters, windows, mirrors, etc. and I use it straight to clean the toilet and the tub. So easy!
4. Buy organic meat and produce whenever you can. Non-GMO is the next best choice.
Especially be intentional to buy organic corn and soy as they are the top genetically modified crops. Also, be aware of the “Dirty Dozen” foods when it comes to make choices for produce. Baby steps are all you need! We buy organic what we can but we aren’t perfect. All you do is be aware and do your best. Costco makes a lot of these easier – they always have organic apples and spinach which are staples in our home. Organic grapes and strawberries are harder to come by usually but you can find organic strawerries in the frozen section of Target, Trader Joes and Sprouts. Great for smoothies! Costco carries a lot of frozen organic fruits and vegetables. If you have a local veggie co-op thats another great option as is ordering through Azure.
Remember – baby steps and do your best! Pray over the rest and eat with freedom. (stress is not good for you either!)
5. Switch out your bath, body and beauty products.
The things we use daily like lotions, face products, deodorant, makeup, etc can add toxins to our bodies that really accumulate over the years. Start replacing one at a time -more baby steps – and before you know it you will have taken a huge toxic load off of your body.
doTERRA offers a completely natural (Like, for real natural. Not “natural” like most sold claim to be) skin care line called Verage. It is 100% from nature and safe. They also offer a natural and safe deodorant, as well as shampoo and conditioner. The shampoo and conditioner area much better choice than any of the typical brands you can get at the store.
When formulating Essential Skin Care products, dōTERRA with NEVER use the following:
- Artificial colors
- Diethanolamine (DEA)
- Formaldehyde donors
- Parabens
- Phthalates
- Propylene glycol
- Sodium laureth sulfate (SLES)
- Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS)
- Toluene
- Triethanolamine (TEA)
- Animal Testing
Replace what you can, when you can and you’ll be on the way to a safe, non-toxic home!
6. Consider the water you are drinking daily.
Because we need so much water, the quality of that water can have a big impact on our health. We are big believers in high quality filtering. I highly recommend Berkey filters (LINK) which do not require electricity or installation. They filter out the bad but leave the good minerals your body needs. We added the flouride filters as well because we don’t want to drink that (google “dangers of flouride”) We have also have had Reverse Osmosis filters for many years. They remove everything, so minerals should be added back in to replenish. They are more expensive long term when it comes to replacement filters and require installation but the water tastes amazing! Refrigerator filters, filters you attach to your faucet or coming in a pitcher, like Brita and Pur do not do the job you need them to. They are barely filtering anything compared to what a Berkey or Reverse Osmosis can.
Drink from a stainless or glass cup and avoid plastic cups and bottles.
Here are 6 additional tips:
7. Avoid canned food as the lining of the cans contains BPA unless otherwise noted. BPA can have tremendous negative effects on the body especially the hormonal system. All canned food cant be avoided for most people but especially avoid tomato and other acidic products as these will leach chemicals from the BPA into the food. If you need some pre-made tomato products buy them in glass.
8. Do not cook on aluminum foil. Again, especially avoid cooking acidic foods on aluminum as this can cause leaching. When covering a pan with aluminum foil for baking, cover it with parchment paper before placing your food on the pan (safe up to 400 degrees) or use silicon mats which do not leach and are safe to cook on.
9. Cook with stainless, silicone or wooden cooking utensils and never with plastic.
10. Reheat food on the stove. I went over 6 years without a microwave and we were fine. Our new house came with one and I have to admit I use it more than I should for convenience. But food tastes way different reheated in a pan vs the microwave so that tells me something significant about what it does to food. Its a heated debate but error on the side of caution. It can’t hurt anything to avoid it when you can.
11. Store food in glass or stainless containers, not plastic. If you need to store food in plastic, wait until it cools, never put it in the bag or container while still hot and avoid acidic foods like tomato sauce as well. I got a set of 12 glass bowls with lids the other day for $18. They are very inexpensive now and last a long time (unless your kids drop them of course ;))
12. Stick to natural sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and stevia. Avoid Aspartame and Splenda at all costs. Try a drop of Lemon, Wild Orange or Grapefruit in some carbonated water for a great soda alternative.
So there you go! Start with what resonates with you.
Whats the first thing you can change to make your home a healthier place?
Emiliana Wigley says
Your site looks amazing and is so informational!
Katie says
When you say, nothing sticks once you get the hang of it, what do you mean? 🙂 We have been cooking with stainless and cast iron, and about six months ago I finally figured out that if we use enough butter or coconut oil, our food will not stick in the cast iron. Same trick with stainless? Just lots of oil? Thanks!
Healing in our Homes says
yes! And getting the pan hot enough is key too. I cooked 16 eggs this morning (big family lol!) and used just bacon grease and nothing stuck.