Chemical soup: Navigating the sea of toxins

As a reader, you already know that I try to avoid as many chemicals as possible…

Whether the exposure comes from plastic, disinfecting products, food items, or more.

This is always top of mind for me.

But let’s really dig into how difficult it can be…

Toxic food supply

I was recently on vacation—on a tiny Caribbean island—when I realized I needed some mayonnaise.

Well, my quest turned into quite the scavenger hunt.

The first two stops I made didn’t have any. But when I finally found some, the mayo was from brands I had never heard of. So, I checked the ingredients list carefully (as I always advise you to do).

I wasn’t surprised to see sugar and high-fructose corn syrup listed. But what did surprise me were the preservatives. They all had sodium benzoate, emulsifiers, and more. Not to mention, at least 15 to 25 ingredients total.

Do you know how many ingredients it takes to make mayonnaise? (Which is what I ended up doing myself after my hour-long, unsuccessful trek.)

TWO. Or, if you want to add salt, then the grand total is three.

We’re talking oil and egg yolks, people… that’s it!

This is a prime example of just how toxic our food supply has become.

Now let’s shift our focus to personal care items…

Hiding in plain sight

As I was getting dressed one morning, I really starting to think about how many personal care products I use on a daily basis.

If you’re like me, you may not even realize just how exposed you may be until you really think about it.

In fact, in just one morning, I used:

  • Dental floss (Mine is made from silk and beeswax.)
  • Toothbrush (It’s really hard to find one without plastic bristles, but if you know of a brand, please let me know! E-mail me: [email protected].)
  • Toothpaste (Organic versions only.)
  • Shampoo, soap (Organic, clean ingredients.)
  • Face wash, toner, face serum, face cream (Organic, clean ingredients.)
  • Skin cream (Made from an organic oatmeal base.)
  • Cotton pads (Organic.)
  • Deodorant (Organic, clean ingredients.)
  • Ear swabs (Made from organic cotton.)
  • Hair gel (I can’t find a good alternative to this either! Do you know of something?)

As you can see, even with careful consideration, it’s difficult to avoid the toxic chemicals that are so ubiquitous in our world now.

And that’s just my MORNING routine!

If we take it a step further and look in the bedroom, it gets even more overwhelming. Just consider the source material of each item—sheets, blankets, pillows, cleaning supplies. These are things we all come into contact with on a daily basis and don’t even give it a second thought.

But with the rise in awareness of what these chemicals are doing to us, it’s high time we all start looking at the products in our life and making informed changes, whenever possible.

Take a look at some of my previous conversations on non-toxic alternatives for household products and personal grooming.