Ways to reduce your toxic exposures- insert from renewal lab
- Eat less animal dairy and fat. The fatty parts of meat are where certain bioaccumulative compounds collect and concentrate. The same goes for the fat in large, long-lived fish, except that there is a balancing issue to weigh. Fatty fish such as salmon and tuna contain omega=3s, which are good for your telomeres, so eat in moderation.
- Think about the air when you turn up the heat with meat. If you cook meat on a grill or on a gas stove, use ventilation. Try to avoid the food directly on open flames, and try not eat the charred portions, no matter how tasty they are. A good idea for any food.
- Avoid pesticides in your produce. Eat foods that are free of pesticides when possible; at the very least, wash your produce thoroughly before consuming. Purchase organic fruits, vegetables and meats, or grow your own, Consider growing lettuce, basil, herbs and tomatoes in pots on your balcony. Safe alternatives for dealing with pesky critters can be found clicking here.
- Use housecleaning products containing natural ingredients. You can make many of these products yourself. We like the housecleaning "recipes" found here.
- Find safe personal-care products. Carefully read the labels on personal-care products such as soap, shampoo, and makeup. You can also visit www.ewg.org/skindeep to identify which chemicals are in your beauty products. When in doubt, buy products that are natural or organic.
- Buy nontoxic house pants. Avoid paints the contain cadmium, lead, or benzene.
- Go greener. Buy more house plants: two per one hundred square feet is ideal for keeping your air filtered. Good choices include philodendrons, Boston ferns, peace lilies, and English ivy.
- Support urban forestry with your money and your labor. Green spaces offer so many benefits to mind and body, as well as to healthy communities. One newer idea can be considered in dense urban megacities, where one cannot plant enough trees to ride the air of toxins. If you live in a city, consider lobbying your municipal government to install air-purifying billboards. These billboards do the work of 1,200 trees, cleaning a space of up to 100,000 cubic meters by removing pollutants such as dust particles and metals from the air.
- Stay up to date about toxic products by downloading the "Detox Me" app by Silent Spring: www.silentspring.org
