Toxic load is a real thing. Since the industrialisation era, our ozone has been bombarded with greenhouse gas emissions, pollutants, coal burn off, plastic waste and more and our level of exposure goes beyond our outdoor environment. From inside the home, the food that we eat and the clothes that we wear, we are literally a walking talking chemical pollutant, ingesting glyphosate, tanning ourselves with dihydroxyacetone and cleaning our kitchens with bleach. The invisible chemical load is dismissed by most, yet impacts everyone.

Now you may be thinking ‘but it’s not really that bad, like my exposure is not that high’ however, in the timeline of evolution, the rate at which we are dumping toxic waste and being exposed to this chemical soup is far exceeding the rate at which we are evolving. Our genetics simply have not had long enough to adapt, leaving many of us very vulnerable to the damaging effects that these chemicals have on our health, and we are seeing this play out not only in ourselves but all so our offspring.

The average amount of chemicals found in the umbilical cord of a newborn baby exceeds 200! This is particularly worrisome considering the amount of literature linking chemical exposure and neurological disorders and cancers. Is it no wonder we are seeing the epidemic of brain disease in our children, from autism to depression (over 100,00 Australian children are now prescribed antidepressants) when they are being born with over 200 in their blood? What chance does our next generation have when they are born via medical intervention, exposed to antibiotics, eating glyphosate drenched grains, playing with toys made from plastic in China and entertaining themselves with EMF toxicity from the wifi and blue light. We are a far cry from the human species only 100 years ago.

Did you know that your household products could be the thing that’s stopping you and your hubby from conceiving?

In fact in this research paper, they conclude that environmental toxins from household products, beauty products, mould, paint, heavy metals + more, are contributing significantly to the rise in infertility we are seeing today. I theorise that the increase in IVF therapy is not only contributing to epigenetic health issues - that's a whole other blog - but that it is a direct reflection of our body’s inability to do the one biological job it is designed for. Unexplained infertility or metabolic based infertility such as PCOS and low sperm count are all linked in the literature to endocrine disruptors aka chemical load.

While this may feel overwhelming, there are easy solutions to help lower your toxic load and welcome fertility and pregnancy!

I have put together my top 5 swaps together for you and your partner, to help foster healthier eggs and sperm, and ultimately healthier babies.

Table of Contents
#1 Swap out toxic cleaning products for good old vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and eucalyptus oil.

#2 Ditch the toxic fake tan and beauty products and instead opt for organic brands.

#3 Organic food is not a fad! Removing glyphosate and artificial additives from your food is a must for better health.

#4 Humidify your airspace with a diffuser.

#5 Ditch the blue light and wifi and ground yourself with nature and our natural sunsets.

#1 Swap out toxic cleaning products for good old vinegar, bicarbonate of soda and eucalyptus oil.

While it may be convenient to purchase disposable wiping cloths (!!) it’s certainly not convenient for our planet or our womb. Did you know that in 2000, cleaning products were responsible for nearly 10% of all toxic exposures reported to U.S. Poison Control Centers, accounting for 206,636 calls. Of these, 120,434 exposures involved children under six, who can swallow or spill cleaners stored or left open inside the home. This is only a reflection of what can be accidentally ingested, but we all know that ingestion can take transdermally, leaving our bodies very vulnerable every time we wipe down that bench or bleach the dunny.

I suggest using good old vinegar, bicarb soda and eucalyptus oil to disinfect (just as effectively) while keeping your health and planet happy. I like ‘Homes to Love’ website for instructions on how to mix up certain ingredients depending on the cleaning job: https://www.homestolove.com.au/the-only-7-natural-cleaning-recipes-youll-ever-need-12377

#2 Ditch the toxic fake tan and beauty products and instead opt for organic brands.

Beauty products, unfortunately, contain a host of chemicals, from aluminium through to sulphates and parabens, they are not short of their endocrine-disrupting load. This is why voting with your wallet and only using certified organic beauty products are essential to your reproductive health. Many do not realise that our skin is one of our largest organs and has an intimate relationship with our gut via the gut to skin axis. This poses discourse to our womb, which also has an intimate pathway to our gut, so what impacts one will impact the other. As well, endocrine-disrupting chemicals negatively impact our hormones, leading to a perfect storm of painful periods, late cycles and hormonal acne, all in the name of darker skin and smelling like a tulip.

#3 Organic food is not a fad! Removing glyphosate and artificial additives from your food is a must for better health.

Girl, I hate to break it to you, but non-organic food is truly awful. The regular usage of herbicides and pesticides on our crops and harvest has far-reaching effects on your endocrine system as well as your gut microbiome. It is very well known that glyphosate (which is patented as an antibiotic and antimicrobial) at best disrupts our microbiome and at worst causes cancer. Chemicals are used at every step of the agricultural process, from weed killers to allow crops to grow, through to disinfectants and bleach at the milling process, to finally coating them in a gloss so that your apple looks fresh and fancy on the supermarket shelves. These endocrine-disrupting chemicals are linked to endometriosis, PCOS, infertility in men and women, cancers and autoimmunity. Trust me, pay the extra for organic, because it will save you in the long run.

#4 Humidify your airspace with a diffuser.

Not only is this great for babies, it really helps adults as well, due to the amount of mould and toxic load in our airspaces. It is estimated that 50% of all houses in Australia are contaminated with mould overgrowth, leading to toxic spores entering our system and damaging our microbiome, nervous system and hormones. Diffusing essential oils or using an air humidifier helps to clean the air space. My favourite oils are eucalyptus, lavender and gardenia.

#5 Ditch the blue light and wifi and ground yourself with nature and our natural sunsets.

Toxic load isn’t just chemicals, it is also electromagnetic fields. The amount of light pollution we are experiencing thanks to our screen loving days is scary. For many, we start our day by checking our phones and end it by either watching a movie on our TV or working on our laptop. If you don’t have the ability to change habits (which I recommend trying first, such as not checking your phone until after breakfast) purchasing some blue light blocking glasses can help a lot. I like Baxter Blue: https://www.baxterblue.com.au

So there it is, your top 5 tips to change the course of your health for the better! I hope this list helps in your pursuit of a healthier you.

Holly
The Womens Series

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