Most of us are aware of how many preservatives and additives are in our foods. We're also aware that we breathe in a lot of toxins in the air. But here's my question: how do we eliminate as many of these things as possible from our lives without letting the task consume us?
As many of you know, my dad has extreme adverse reactions to most additives and preservatives. We all have these adverse reactions, but the symptoms manifest themselves to varying degrees. Because of my dad's intense reactions, I have had a sense for years about the strange stuff they put in our foods and I have made minor attempts to change what I consume. And then my husband got a tumor. I am not saying these additives and preservatives were the cause of the tumor. However, it made me want to purchase and prepare foods in the purest form possible and not be feeding my husband (or myself for that matter). This extends to the cleaning products we use; the shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and lotions that we lather on our bodies; and the household items we buy like linens and containers. Again, I am not trying to eliminate everything at once - that would make me paranoid and probably a little crazy.
I would like to use this space to share some tips along the way to help others eliminate all these unnecessary chemicals from our lives. I hope you find these tips helpful.
Food: Obviously it's best to buy all foods in their purest form. If you want applesauce, buy all the ingredients to make it instead of buying it in the jug. If you want mac and cheese, avoid Kraft with the powdered cheese and buy the real stuff. If you want something sugary, buy it with real sugar and avoid the fake sweeteners.
This is the ideal. However, I understand that it's not always practical. When you buy packaged food, here are a couple things to keep in mind: (1) The shorter the ingredient list, the better. (2) If you don't recognize an ingredient, then don't buy it! (3) Some ingredient are obvious to avoid (MSG, high fructose corn syrup, all the dyes, aspartame), but some may not be so obvious. Here are a few to watch out for: citric acid (sometimes it is natural, sometimes it is artificial - there's no way to tell from the label), carrageenan (watch out for this in tooth paste too), guar gum, gum arabic, sodium nitrite/nitrate, mannitol, sorbitol (pretty much anything that ends in -tol), casein, stevia, pectin. There are so so many more, but you'll find several of these in organic food.
Household cleaners: So many of the household cleaners are toxic. One non-toxic solution that I have found is a hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, water mix. For a big batch, do 1 cup hydrogen peroxide, 3 tablespoons lemon juice, 15 cups water. For a smaller batch, do 1/3 cup hydrogen peroxide, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 5 cups water. This works great in a spray bottle and can be used for anything.
Also, my friend Sarah Bruss told me about soaps nuts. These nuts are grown on trees in Nepal. She uses them for her laundry, but the nuts can also be made into a liquid for dishes, shampoo, cleaning cloth diapers, among other things. For more information,
click here.
I am also about to try baking soda for shampoo (add water until it is a paste) and apple cider vinegar as conditioner. I am not sure how I am going to like it, but I am going to give it a try this summer.
This should be enough to get you thinking for now! Please feel free to chime in with ideas. I will let everyone know how the soap nuts go when I try them and how the baking soda and apple cider vinegar do in my hair.
