The Detox Road

I have been making slow and steady progress at detoxing our family. When I started looking into the chemicals and toxins in everyday products around our home, that we even put on our children's skin, I became quite horrified. To me, it is no surprise we have a drastic rise in auto-immune disorders and other behavioral disorders that are thought to be neurological in origin. It seems simple to me to eliminate all I can from our homes to make them as healthy as possible.

When I started making a list of all I have already done I was pretty impressed. It has been little by little but I really can see that it is making a difference. Brad and I were just discussing the fact that he has not had any migraines for months. I don't think this is a coincidence but rather the result of concious exclusion of toxic products in our home. I specifically think our laundry soap could have been contributing to his issues.

You may not even know that many of the things I am going to list as being eliminated from our home are toxic. That is where I hope this blog can be useful to some other families.

Items elminated/changed:

Laundry Detergent
Switched to all natural detergent from Seventh Generation.
Switched to Non-Toxic dryer sheets
Going to make continued improvements by using infused vinegar I make myself in our laundry, hydrogen peroxide and baking soda for whitening.

Cleaning Supplies
Eliminated all toxic cleaning supplies
We now exclusively use a mixture of Vinegar, Water and Tea Tree oil. Vinegar is a natural antibacterial, killing up to 90% of germs and bacteria. The TTO kills anything else left on the surface and is a powerful anti-bacterial, anti-fungal. I also add other Essential Oils (EO) for scent like Bergamot or Rosemary.
Dish Soap is also a naturally based product from Seventh Generation

Personal Products
We have eliminated all chemical/toxin laden personal products for the most part (a couple of Brad's products linger).
We now use California Baby and Nature's Baby Organics for the kids bath products. I am using Pure and Natural for soap and I use the kids shampoo also. I use Organic Coconut Oil on their skin instead of lotions and also use the Coconut oil and strategic "shade management" for sunscreen since Coconut Oil is a natural SPF 4. I exclusively use Coconut Oil on my skin also.

Diapers
The two diapered kidlets are now in cloth diapers. It is so easy, less wasteful and a million times better then toxic disposables (more on that later). We have done away with wipes also. If the kids have to be in disposables they are chlorine-free, dye-free, fragrance-free.


What is still to come?
I have many things still to change. Here is part of the changing list.

Food
Eliminate processed foods as much as possible. Of particular interest are eliminating: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Oils, Genetically Modified foods, Hormone and antibiotic laden foods (Dairy and Meats), Artificial Sweeteners (Aspartame, Splenda, Sucralose, etc.), Artificial colors, Artificial flavors.

We plan to have our own garden and purchase as much as we can at the Farmer's market for fresh, organic, natural fruits and vegetables. We also have joined the Nebraska Food Co-op which will allow us to get locally raised, grass fed meat.

I would like to start canning our own sauces and other foods so we have them available when needed and are confident in how they were made.

The kids hopefully will snack on only healthy foods. They love fruits and veggies so this is not a hard one for us. I am increasing consumption of foods rich in Omega Fatty Acids and Miles gets an Omaga 3-6-9 Supplement. I am cooking almost exclusively in Coconut Oil which is a Medium Chain Fatty Acid and rich in healthy fats. It also contains Lauric Acid which is only found in Breastmilk. When processed in the body it is converted to Monolaurian which is a natural antiviral, antibacterial fighter.

I think that is all of the big changes. Of course, little changes take place and still have a big impact on our health, well-being and pocket book. I do have a method to my madness. All of the changes I have made or plan to make are based on a combination of science and instinct. I plan on using this blog to provide links of information on the why and how of making these changes in your life, for your family.

Until next time....