Rooted Mama Podcast
Detoxification for Beginners
Welcome to another episode of the Rooted Mama podcast. Today we’re going to talk about toxins and detoxification and the whole thing. There’s a lot of information out there about this topic, but I wanted to do a short episode kind of breaking down some practical things you can do to support your overall health because a lot of people don’t realize that the stress that some of these things put on their body really does make a huge impact on their mental and physical health as well.
So I want to keep this topic very concise and very to the point so you can understand it and walk away with something useful and tangible that you can use to improve your health. I really think it’s important when we tackle this topic to go into it from a healthy mental space. I think sometimes when people are presented with information that scares them, they tend to have one of two responses. One, they bury their heads in the sand and pretend like they never heard about it and it didn’t happen and it just doesn’t exist. Or two, they freak out and decide they need to go live in a cave somewhere and they can’t go anywhere, do anything, eat anything. They freak out and go into like a hyper stressed mode. Neither response is effective. And so I’m hoping at the end of this episode, you won’t go one of those two directions and instead you’ll, you’ll be able to process the information and have some tangible tools that you can work on without feeling overwhelmed and without feeling stressed because stressing your system out is just going to make the problem worse.
Although our modern world has had a lot of incredible new technology and developments and, and all the cool things, we still have not yet figured out how to get away from stress.
How Toxins Effect us and The History of Chemicals [00:01:56]
So I want to give you a little bit of a look of the different scenarios that we often go through. And the ones that are more knew is the medical one that is a little different. It’s you know, maybe you are in a ward. Maybe you were on a job and you had a serious medical condition, or you suddenly had an issue with all those basic things.
A question I have is why are these chemicals even allowed? Why isn’t there more research done to determine the impact of these chemicals on human health? Well, while those are great questions, the answer is a little more nuanced. So typically in this country, the philosophy with these chemicals is to assume that they’re safe until there’s research to show that they’re not safe.
And so this has actually led to really disastrous results for human beings in general, children in particular. For example, in the 70s, the Surgeon General declared that low levels of lead were considered safe. But now we know that if you can detect lead in a person’s system, that it’s already caused damage and that damage can decrease IQ points and lead to other health problems as well. So our current laws don’t require that new chemicals be tested for potential harm unless evidence of harm already exists.
Testing of these things in the past have Historically caused harm to vulnerable populations in the past. If you know anything about the Tuskegee syphilis study, you’ll know that there was a cure for syphilis, but they continued the study without the participants’ consent or knowledge until a whistleblower actually leaked news of that. And the study was finally shut down. And those patients were actually given treatment for their syphilis. And researchers during that whole time actively worked to prevent family doctors and other health care providers from treating those patients. And they did so without the patient’s consent or knowledge at all.
We also have history in this country of DDT was sprayed in massive quantities. And then we had a massive outbreak of polio in our country. Thalidomide was a drug that was given to people. Pregnant women to help with nausea will come to find out it actually leads to serious birth defects. And there was a bunch of babies who were born without their limbs due to this drug being used without sufficient testing being done first.
So all that to say, I would just generally be cautious as a consumer about trusting government organizations or medical boards to help keep you safe. It’s really important that you do your own research. And you think for yourself so you can make decisions on what’s going to work best for yourself and your family as well. That being said, I want to give you some simple tips to help you support your body’s natural ability to detox. Because our bodies are very resilient and can tackle a lot of things. But the less that your body has to deal with, the more capacity and room it’s going to have to adequately address other health concerns in your life.
One of the big things you can do is reduce your toxic load through dietary changes. Some of these are pretty obvious. Most people know that alcohol puts stress on your liver. Smoking puts stress on your lungs. And processed food puts stress on your gut. Those are simple things that if you can avoid or limit to them, it helps significantly with your body’s ability to heal and recover and function and thrive. Additionally, I want to point out this. Because this is something I’ve been doing for a long time. This is something I don’t think tons of people know. But if you have mental health issues like anxiety, schizophrenia, depression, different things like that. There’s a decent amount of research that shows cutting out dairy and gluten is very beneficial for mental health as well. Additionally, if you have autoimmune diseases, cutting out processed foods is going to be huge for your overall health as well. Because when your body has less energy, it’s going to be more difficult for your body to function. And if your body has less inflammation, it’s able to actually heal and recover. I know of one individual who has done what she calls the lion diet. Where she essentially only eats meat. Like salt, water, and meat. And that’s all. And she’s been able to manage her health issues with pretty extraordinary results.
So obviously that wouldn’t be a recommendation for everybody. But if you have an autoimmune disease, you can do it. If you have an autoimmune problem that you haven’t been able to address otherwise, looking into some of these specialized diets could definitely be a way to go.
Going to clean products [00:07:22]
Next, you can reduce your toxic load through lifestyle changes. Chemicals in our personal care products are a big source of exposure. Because obviously they go directly onto our skin. So shampoo, makeup, soap, laundry detergent. All of those things are things that our body is being exposed to frequently and daily. And so swapping those for more natural options is going to be a great way to go. A lot of those you can actually make on your own if you have the time or desire to do so. Next is the chemicals in your water. I recommend a Berkey filter. It’s one that’s pretty effective and is pretty cost friendly as well. We got a water filtration system installed in our house and it works wonderfully. But obviously that’s a little bit more expensive. So a Berkey filter can be a great way to start and it’s a little more economical in terms of price point.
Next is the chemicals on your furniture, bedding, and clothes. Flame retardants are pretty commonly used. And so this one obviously is a little more expensive to swap out. But if you’re looking to get like a new couch or a new bed, looking for like an organic mattress or looking for furniture that doesn’t use flame retardants is a great way to go. Then you can use a water filtration system. So there is more research coming out about this. I don’t know that we have all the information out on it yet. But although I think the idea was a good idea, I think in reality the chemicals and what this does to our bodies could potentially end up causing more harm than good. But we’ll see as more research comes out over time.
EMF Exposure and Blue Light [00:09:04]
Next is EMF exposure. So one of the ways you can decrease your EMF exposure is to turn your Wi-Fi off at night. So that’s a good way to do that. And also put your cell phone in the other room. I don’t know about you, but I often put my cell phone kind of right by my bed, right where I’m sleeping. And so that increases that exposure. And it’s not even a necessary exposure because I don’t use my phone at night. I’m sleeping. This additionally is beneficial because it will help prevent you from just mindlessly scrolling on your phone at night if it’s out of reach. So I would recommend tucking that away. And that will help decrease that exposure as well.
Another stressor is blue light. So wearing blue light blocking glasses is an effective way to help decrease the stressor. It’s challenging to minimize it. But being out in nature and camping and getting away from screens and artificial light is a great way to go. So reducing your toxic load through dietary changes, reducing your toxic load through lifestyle changes. And finally, I would also recommend decreasing your toxic load through managing your body temperature. And I would also recommend reducing your toxic load through managing your stress response.
This is something that can be challenging for people because when your nervous system is in a threat state, it can be really hard to shift and bring yourself back to a place of peace because you really have to deal with those underlying stressors that are causing the problem. So I would recommend obviously break method, healing prayer, therapy or spiritual counsel.
And finally, not stressing about the toxins in your life. I really don’t want you to stress about the toxins in your life. I don’t want you to walk away from this episode stressed and overwhelmed because of all the toxic exposure out there. It’s there. It’s not going anywhere. So you being stressed about it isn’t going to make a difference. Instead, take a deep breath and pick one of these ways that you’re going to work on your health. Don’t try to do 10. Try to focus on one, maybe two. Because the less toxins that your body has to juggle, the more capacity it will have to heal and actually fight diseases. So I would recommend reducing your toxic load through dietary changes.
In the show notes, I will put some links to the additional resources I used in this episode and also some other alternative products and sources you might enjoy that can help you reduce that toxic load and make some shifts to safer products.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to send me an email at info@shelbyleppin.com. And I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye.
Click Here for Additional Resources about Detoxing your House.