Many of us have done a detox in order to eliminate internal toxins from our body, but how many of us do anything about the toxins in our own homes? Common household and body-care products are increasingly being found to have negative health effects on the nervous and immune systems, on our reproductive systems and on our endocrine, cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
The average home contains 500-1,000 chemicals, many of which we are unable to see, smell or taste. While these chemicals may be tolerated individually and in small doses, problems can arise when one is exposed to them in combination or in larger doses. Everyone's tolerance level is different depending on genetics, nutritional status and previous contacts with many chemicals, but the negative effects of household toxins are often compounded by the use of other drugs especially the habitual use of alcohol, or prescription or recreational drugs.
Indoor air is typically 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air. Home insulation, so wonderful for keeping our homes warm in winter and cool in summer, doesn't allow fresh air in, so we're constantly breathing in the same stale air. Wall to wall carpeting keeps us cozy, but can introduce a myriad of toxins to our well insulated homes. It can also trap dirt, fleas, dust, dust-mites and lead.
Many of the cleaning products we use to clean our furniture, bathrooms, windows etc. are full of toxic chemicals, some of which do not even appear on the labels. Similarly with the many personal-care care products we put on our skin and the pet-care products we use on our pets.
Most tick and flea products contain active ingredients and solvents that might cause cancer in animals. Also, substantial human exposure is possible by absorption through the skin, while playing with and handling the pet.
The pesticides we use on our gardens eliminate not only plant pests but also most of the insects that are beneficial to help control these pests. Of the 30 most commonly used lawn chemicals, 19 have studies pointing toward cancer and 15 are known to cause nervous system poisoning.
This is not to say that we should not keep our houses comfortable and clean and our yards looking good. What's important is to understand that how we do this can have an important impact on our health. Abundant toxins can and do lead to health problems.
Taking more care to reduce our exposure to both internal and external toxins, by detoxing our bodies and our living space allows the body's own detoxification to function more efficiently. This strengthens our resilience to the daily onslaught of factors impacting our health.
There are many things you can do to "detox" your home, some more practical than others.
Here are my 20 suggestions:
We can reduce our risk of chronic illness by limiting our exposure to these toxins but don't let this become an obsession which can cause so much stress that it creates more of a negative impact on your health than the toxins themselves.
And finally, no amount of environmental toxins are as important as emotional toxicity. You can do all the above, but if your house is full of anger, resentment, jealousy, unhappiness and a lack of love, compassion and forgiveness, the house will remain toxic.
--------
Frank Lipman MD is an internationally recognized expert in the fields of Integrative and Functional Medicine. A practicing physician, he is the founder and director of the Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in NYC, where for over 20 years his personal brand of healing has helped thousands of people reclaim their vitality and recover their zest for life.
To bring his approach to a wider audience and not just his NYC patients, he recently created Eleven Eleven Wellness and Total Renewal, a leading edge integrative health program to get your health on track.
To hang with Frank, visit his blog, follow him on Twitter or join his Facebook community today.
He is the author of REVIVE: Stop Feeling Spent and Start Living Again (2009) (previously called SPENT) and TOTAL RENEWAL: 7 key steps to Resilience, Vitality and Long-Term Health (2003).
Dr. Lipman lectures throughout the world on chronic disease prevention and sits on the Board of two non profits from his native South Africa, the Ubuntu Education Fund and Monkeybiz. He also has an intense passion for World music and is a frustrated DJ.
Follow Dr. Frank Lipman on Twitter: www.twitter.com/drfranklipman
Dr. Susanne Bennett: Detox Your Body: Bathing for Better Health
One thing I noticed. Houses are built in flood plain. They have fitted carpets. Flood comes. Insurers come. Houses fixed. New fitted carpets! Why don't they concrete & insulate the floors and tile them? When such houses nearly flood they can be damp for months.
People think if they take a supplement and poo 14 times a day, they are cleaning themselves out. Infact you are just dehydrating your body.
Guys, if you want to make a baby, leave the cologne in the medicine cabinet, blow out the scented candles, and for heaven’s sake get rid of that pine tree-shaped air freshener hanging on the rear view mirror. Stop nuking your food in plastic and toss the hair gel.
Phthalates literally block androgen receptors, so that male hormones can’t plug in and give their male hormone messages to cells.
If it's not a pure essential oil, it's a fakegrance.
More at Virginia Hopkins Health Watch - http://www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/scentedproducts.html
Sorry that I'm not Dr. Lipman. I hope he answers you. But I just wanted to say:
I hear you and have felt the same way.
The ONLY option we have to avoid all these toxins in our air and water is to get involved in the governance of our democracy of the people.
We need to seek out good candidates who have proven they are willing to take a stand and can effectively get something done on these issues. We need to support those candidates and also work to ensure transparency and accountability so we know what is going on in our own environment and food and water supply..
Americans who want a cleaner environment must work to influence the policy and laws that are written. Otherwise, we have little control and even if we figure out a clever way to avoid one toxin, another ten will pop up in its place.
i cant believe that people pay 15 dollars for 10 loads of tide!
even castile soap has done up in price..........used to 80cents now its 4 dollars a bar.
......in 6 years .
faved.