A Fresh Start for the New Year
December has come and gone quickly, with New Year’s Eve being the last major holiday where we typically indulge. Most of us tend to consume more sweets, alcohol, food, and take more time to rest and relax rather than staying active during the holidays. It’s such a wonderful time to slow down and connect with loved ones. Although this period of time usually brings us great joy, it can also be stressful, and leave us feeling worn out. Increased consumption of food and alcohol without our regular routines makes January 1st feel terrible.
Releasing ourselves from routine and letting go of expectations is okay, and sometimes completely necessary. The hardest part is getting “back into the swing of things” after the holidays are over. Every January, I like to think about a detox, or cleaning things up - in my environment and my body - because it’s the perfect time to reset and have a fresh start.
Why Detox?
Our body is exposed to toxins, pesticides, and chemicals no matter how much we try to limit or avoid them in our everyday life. And on top of that, we also add negative people, social isolation, obsessively scrolling social media, listening to the news, having family staying over or constant travel, the expectations of loved ones and the holidays… the list goes on. Our ability to cope with toxins is limited, and constant stressors will decrease that threshold. When this happens, it damages how your body functions and can eventually cause disease.
Research shows that toxins, whether physical and emotional, damage our cells and immune system, and are implicated in cancer, neurological conditions, migraines, immune deficiencies, skin disorders and in all autoimmune diseases (to name just a few).
It's important to keep in mind that it's impossible to eliminate toxins in our environment. It is possible however, to limit our exposure and make mindful decisions to decrease our toxic load. This is why I suggest a detox and aiming to buy clean products (more on this later.)
What is considered a toxin?
Examples of everyday toxins include: lead in your tap water (from old pipes in your house or neighborhood), mercury or other heavy metals found in seafood and old dental fillings, pesticides and herbicides that travel into your body from the food you eat, exposure to chemicals in cleaning products, pollution in the air you breathe, plastics in your food, parabens and other chemicals in personal care products, and on and on. As I mentioned, a few of these are completely out of our control, which is why I am going to help you with the things that are in your control!
How to choose nontoxic products
Selecting personal care, cleaning, and health products can be difficult to navigate since marketing is often misleading. This is why I recommend the HealthyLiving app from the Environmental Working Group. The EWG is a nonprofit organization that researches and advocates for nontoxic, clean products, clean drinking water, better legislation, and protecting our environment. Every year they release the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen,” which are lists of the worst and best produce for pesticide exposure. I use these lists to inform which produce I am sure to buy organic vs. produce that is already cleaner to begin with.
Their HealthyLiving App has a feature where you can scan cleaning products, personal care products, food, and provides a rating. This rating is based on ingredients, toxins, nutritional content, processing, allergens, etc. This app is incredibly useful when researching clean products, and you can use it in store while shopping! The app is always available, but today I’m going to list a few of our favorite products at Balanced Living.
Our Favorite Brands
Our members have access to our full product recommendation lists, as well as a recent webinar on EWG products. If you’re interested in becoming a member, let us know! Otherwise, we will share a few of our favorite EWG brands here:
Attitude: With beauty, hair & body, and homecare products, Attitude has a wide variety of products to offer. We specifically like their kitchen cleaner and laundry detergent. Many home care products have synthetic fragrances and harsh chemicals that would contribute to your toxin load. We also like their toothpaste and deodorant! They not only focus on using clean ingredients, but also have eco-innovative packaging. You can find most of their products on amazon, or you can order directly from Attitude here.
BeautyCounter: If you’re looking for cleaner skincare and makeup, BeautyCounter has everything you need. We like their shaving products and deodorant, which comes in lavender, coconut and rose scent. Their mission is to make clean products accessible, because “beauty should be good for you!” You can check out their website here.
Dirty Dozen & Clean Fifteen: Although these aren’t products, I mentioned them previously because I love these lists! They help you focus on which produce to buy organic and wash carefully before eating. See the lists here.
AspenClean: This company has multiuse cleaners, dish soap and pods, as well as laundry detergent. AspenClean is also family owned and aims to find environmentally friendly, non toxic alternatives to chemical cleaners. The cleaners have Aspen tree bark extract in them, hence the name! You can look at the products here.
AirDoctor Air Purifier: The air in your home can be shockingly more polluted than outdoor air. Particles, mold, dust, pet hair and dander, can all build up in our system, especially when it’s cold and we can’t open the windows! I like the Airdoctor filters for my home. Consider investing in a new years gift for yourself! Check them out here.
We hope that you find some ideas from this list on how to clean up your home and environment. It can be overwhelming when we try to minimize our toxins, and can feel hopeless in a world where harmful products are normalized. If you can replace just one product at a time, it makes a difference! Next time you run out of your toothpaste or laundry detergent, try replacing them with one of our suggestions.
If you feel like you’ve done all you can in your products, home, and environment, or you just want an extra boost this new year, consider taking our detox course. We used to run group detox sessions in the new year, but it’s hard to get everyone together at the same time! That’s why I made the course, Detox with a Doc. It walks you through our 10 day detox with videos, meal suggestions, grocery lists, and recipes so that you have the support you need on your own time. It’s difficult to make change alone, and with this course, you have me to guide you!
If you’re a member with Balanced Living, you can receive this course for free. Check the Members Only page with instructions on how to access the course. If you aren't a member, you can purchase this course for $49 today!
Happy Detoxing!