Here are some easy, everyday tips that are no-brainers when it comes to a healthy lifestyle.
Your Toilet
When you flush, your toilet releases what's called "toilet plume" into the air, which is a spray filled with microscopic bacteria, such as E. coli, and viruses. The germs emitted in the spray can linger in the air for hours and settle onto nearby surfaces, your toothbrush and towels. By closing the lid when you flush, you will help prevent the most common ailment that comes from flushing with an open lid—the notorious norovirus. Norovirus is a highly contagious infection that can cause a sudden onset of severe vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus results in about 685 million cases of disease and 200,000 deaths globally per year. It's advised to keep the lid closed even when it's not in use.
Dust
House dust can be more hazardous than previously thought. Forty-five potentially harmful chemicals are in household dust—that's according to a review of 34 studies published in the September 2018 issue of Environmental Science & Technology. Dust collects traces of every chemical that enters your house—everything from insulation to hair spray to dead skin builds up in dust. Then you inadvertently inhale it, and if you have carpet, most of it settles there. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to respiratory problems, reproductive and hormone issues and more. Children are the highest at risk because they are still building their immune systems. Provoking your child's immune system is always good in moderation, but dusting is an easy way to avoid an overload of the immune system. So dust frequently and use high quality air purifiers.
Tap Water
Tap water can contain various chemicals that many of us are sensitive to. Tap water from a city system usually contains fluoride and chlorine. Both are added to help reduce bacteria in the water, however, some people report various symptoms after drinking it. If you are drinking tap water from a well, you can have any number of natural but harmful minerals in your water. Reported symptoms range from mild stomach discomfort to potential contributing factors for certain cancers. City tap water can be filled with assorted hormones, pesticides and trace amounts of prescription drugs. While generally safe, tap water is one easy thing to avoid if you're looking to have a cleaner lifestyle. A reverse osmosis system, or water treated by RO, is one of the most common and easy solutions to this.
Quality Supplements
Only use supplements that are cGMP (certified/ compliant Good Manufacturer Practices), which guarantees what is on the label is what is actually in the pill. So, that daily multivitamin you take from Target or Amazon that you think is great could actually be doing you more harm than good, because it could be filled with rice powder, artificial sugar or other synthetic fillers. Several studies conducted in supplement stores and online have proven up to 99 percent of all supplements being sold today do not have the same ingredients that are on the label! Unfortunately, there are "certified" and "compliant" GMP supplements. If a company is compliant, it means they are testing themselves and doing the best they can to have everything that is on the label in the bottle. However, they aren't guaranteed to be honest about what you are getting. If a company is Certified GMP, that means an outside company confirmed that what is on the label is, in fact, 100 percent in each bottle. A third-party checked cGMP certified
supplement is the best because it verifies from an outside source that you're getting what you paid for. The organic portion is vital as well. If a supplement is organic, it will not contain synthetic pesticides or growth hormones. Furthermore, a company can be Prop 65 certified, which is very hard to get as it is a California certification. This means there are absolutely no harmful minerals such as lead containments. There are only a handful of companies that meet my Certified GMP, organic and Prop 65 standards. Unfortunately, most of what you find at Natural Grocers and Whole Foods will be Compliant GMP, but that is way better than no GMP stamp at all.
Household Chemicals
After being certified in functional endocrinology, I learned all about the potential dangers of household chemicals. Most deodorants, perfumes, candles, hair sprays and home cleaning products that aren't organic have some sort of toxic by-product. We know these types of products contain a group of petroleum based chemicals called phthalates that are quite harmful to you. Phthalates are well-known hormone disruptors. There are at least 14 nasty chemicals that are not listed on these products and 80 percent of the ingredients in fragrance products have not been tested for human safety. Fragrances slide through an FDA loophole and are considered a trade secret under the Fair Package and Labeling act of 1966. This allows companies to not list some ingredients so their formula cannot be replicated easily. There are so many natural bath and beauty products out there that are non-toxic options. And some of the best cleaning products and beauty products can be found in your cupboard and are very easy to make!
These should all be no-excuse tips to follow, because why not choose the safest and cleanest options?