Did you know that your home could be the culprit in your fertility struggles??
Did you know that:
- Cleaning products don’t have to list their ingredients?
- Many chemicals aren’t tested before being put onto shelves
- They must be ‘proven dangerous’ before removed INSTEAD of ‘proven safe’ before released
- Hormone disrupting chemicals can lead to birth defects and fertility complications
- High levels of BPA’s consumed by a pregnant mother can lead to smaller penis size in boys
- Environmental toxins often lead to higher estrogen levels in men and women
These chemicals can be found throughout our everyday spaces and environment and essential are impossible to eliminate – HOWEVER minimizing our exposure and treating our bodies right so that they can properly eliminate these toxins will be a huge benefit to our overall health and fertility.
Here are some of the areas in your home you are likely to find these hormone disrupting, nasty toxins: paint on your walls, furniture, cleaning products, clothing, toothpaste, dishwashing liquid, hand/body soap, lotions, makeup, hair products, canned foods, non-stick pots and pans, electronics (ie phones, laptops), carpet, laundry detergent/dryer sheets, perfumes, FOOD, and bottled water.
Now before you get all flustered and overwhelmed, remember that you will never be able to eliminate all of them however it isn’t too tricky to start reducing them and this reduction can make positive impact on your fertility. Also working on improving your overall health will allow your body to eliminate these toxins more readily reducing the length of your exposure.
Start with those that you use on a daily basis – such as bath and body products. Next time you run out of soap instead of reaching for the same as you always use, consider looking around, reading the ingredients list and looking for a more natural, toxin free option. Likely you can even find someone local that makes these! (I love
Rocky Mountain Soap Company)
Second you can think about those that you could maybe even make yourself or save money on. Think homemade laundry soap and essential oils instead of perfumes!
If you need to replace canned foods – check out the dried food and frozen food sections instead OR better yet, grow your own and can/freeze it yourself.
Water doesn’t need to be purchased in a bottle. Help reduce toxins on your body and in the environment by bringing your own reusable (non plastic bottle) and just fill and go!
When it comes to electronics…ensure your ‘lap’ top stays on the table and not actually on your lap (men especially as this has been shown to have a negative effect on sperm!) Taking time out from your phone might also be helpful not only for reducing toxins but also for clearing your head and taking a step back. Don’t carry it in your pocket, put it down and walk away…if the sound is on you should still be able to hear every call, text and Facebook message 😉 If you sleep with your phone near your bed, try switching it to airplane mode so that you can still use the alarm clock but are reducing your electromagnetic exposure throughout the night.
Pick two places and start slowly if you wish! If you are unsure about cleaning, bath and body products, check out the
Environmental Working Groups website (it’s super cool) you can look up just about anything and it will give you a rating and the items to watch for! Click on ‘consumer guides’ to look up items from around your home.
If this is enough information for you to take in then stop here. If you are eager for more then check out below where I will leave you with a list of some of my favourite products to check out!
What is the first step that you are going to take?
Food – making organic purchases will drastically reduce your toxins. Check out EWG’s list of the
dirty dozen to know which foods to start with.
Cleaning Products – we have replaced all cleaning products in our house with *
Norwex (mostly cloths and water!) and love the ease and use of these! Using essential oils to clean are also very popular and effective. There are lots of recipes on Google.
Toothpaste –
Green Beaver is a brand found in most grocery stores.
If you are interested in learning more about what to look for in cosmetics
check out this article from David Suzuki that includes the dirty dozen when discussing toxins in our cosmetics.
Non-Stick Pots and Pans – we have recently switched to cast iron in our house. I thought it would be a difficult switch but I actually love the cast iron and it’s pretty easy to clean. As an added bonus, using cast iron will actually add iron to your food!
Dryer Sheets – consider
these ones wool balls from *Norwex. I love them as they will last for YEARS, are quite and you can add whatever essential oils you wish to scent your clean clothes.
Perfumes – try some essential oils in your necklace from
Saje*this is a company I am associated with so if you have any questions about their products please hit reply and we can chat further!
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