My Non-Toxic Journey
🌿 How did I get started on non-toxic journey?
I didn’t grow up with the healthiest family; actually far from it! I would describe myself as the typical child of the ‘80s: eating gushers, fruit by the foot, squeeze its, and pizza bagel bites. In college, I thought eating Subway was being healthy. My go-to foods came from Taco Bell or Carl’s Jr. I didn’t learn anything about nutrition until graduate school.
When I started studying pediatric neuropsychology and working with kids in graduate school, I began to realize the importance of diet and did a deep dive into the research. I started implementing these changes not only in my patients diets, but in my own as well. Having been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, I started to see a difference in my ability to focus and sit still.
When my first was born, I prepared and started with the basics. It wasn’t until my son was hospitalized at 7 weeks old for 29 days that I started to consider evaluating all of the environmental toxins around us. Over the years I slowly started to switch things out. I started with things that I could easily accomplish like my cleaning products, my cookware, and switching to glass bottles and containers. I am constantly learning about healthier or less toxic alternatives, and then I explore ways I can make reasonable modifications or changes over time.
🌿 The next question I always get asked is: How did you get your husband on board?
Fortunately, my husband recognized the impact of plastics before I even did. He would get upset with me over the collection of plastic water bottles in my car, complaining the water tasted like plastic and the toxins we were exposing ourselves to. To better understand this, I took to reading through research on PubMed. My husband, however, didn’t want to sit and read through lengthy research articles so I began providing him cliff-notes versions and searching for well-researched documentaries and shows we could watch together to learn more. In these ways, he is both supportive of the work I do and feels a part of making these informed choices and changes together.
I also spend a lot of time on the @environmentalworkinggroup website. EWG is a non-profit focused on research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability. Their mission is to empower you with breakthrough research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. I am such a huge fan of their work that I ended up joining the board!
The most important thing to keep in mind is this is a journey! These lifestyle changes do not all happen over night and that is more than okay! I have been researching and working at this for more than a decade. When there is a change you can make or a better option you can easily choose, do that; if not, be kind to yourself.