11 Simple Changes For Lower-Tox Living

When life-altering events happen, change happens.

This side of heaven, I will never fully know why God has allowed chronic heart disease and cancer in my life. But one thing I DO know is that my sovereign God has an insane plan for me AND YOU, and if I DID know everything, it still wouldn’t make sense because I don’t have the ability to see everything like He does. Because of that, I therefore have the choice to live the best way I can, for HIM, knowing that my days are already written down and decided, and I get the privilege every day, to walk in His footsteps.

But I want to walk in His footsteps well, doing the best I CAN, to live well. And that’s what congenital/chronic heart disease and cancer have taught me – that every decision matters. Every decision leads to a consequence. Whether good or bad! But every decision either helps or hinders. Every decision is either helpful or hurtful.

That’s why I have chosen to try and live a lower-tox life, rethinking about each decision I make. Note that I didn’t say non-tox because as a human being living in a sinful world, I will never be able to fully rid my life of ALL toxins. But I know I can do better, knowing it’s a both/and. Trust God’s sovereign plan AND do the best I can.

With that said, I want to share with you 11 changes I have made in my life. These aren’t some magical decisions that will guarantee you won’t get any chronic disease or struggle in life, but simply choices we’ve made to do better. I plan to do more in-depth posts in the future on some of these because if you are like me, I didn’t think it would make that big of a difference if I switched “that” choice. Until I looked into the why’s, which then inspired these changes to stick. So stay tuned! Anyways, here are…

11 SIMPLE CHANGES FOR LOWER-TOX LIVING:

1. Read Labels.

You’ll be shocked at what’s in our food, what we use, and what we put in our bodies! This was one of the FIRST things I started to do, which really catapulted me to make the rest of the decisions below…it matters what we use, eat, and breathe in.

2. Swap out my household cleaners.

I have switched all of our cleaning products to Truly Free Home’s and have never regretted it.

3. Switch laundry detergents.

I also switched to Truly Free Home’s Laundry Detergent. They run sales OFTEN, so if you follow me on social media, you’ll see what sales are happening each month, and a couple times a year they run a stellar deal on their detergent. Otherwise you can always purchase it through a subscription.

4. Switch plastic containers for glass.

I switched to glass about 10 years ago, after reading what gets seeped into our food when we heat it in plastic and or even store warm food in them. An easy switch switch that makes a significant difference.

5. Switch dishpods and dishsoap.

When I realized what was cleaning our dishes and that we actually ate off of them, it was a bit alarming. I use Truly Free Home’s Dishwasher Detergent and Dish Soap.

6. Filter drinking water.

Ideally I’d love to have a whole-house filter, but that’s not feasible at the moment, but simply filtering our drinking water is better than nothing! I once looked into our city’s water report and again, there is no way all toxins can be removed from everything we consume. But drinking water is a start. This is the filter we use: ZeroWater 10-Cup Ready-Pour 5-Stage Water Filter Pitcher 0 TDS for Improved Tap Water Taste – IAPMO Certified to Reduce Lead, Chromium, and PFOA/PFOS.

7. Change what skincare products I use.

This has been a process, as I’ll never find perfect, but when I do a more in-depth post, I’ll share what I have found. I don’t wear copious amounts of makeup, but anything we do put on our skin, gets leaked into our systems. It matters what we use.

8. Exchange teflon/non-stick pans for stainless steel, cast iron, or ceramic.

This was a hard one for me. A few years ago I purchased some new pans, and I thought they were “okay” (didn’t do a ton of research on them), but after looking them up again, they have a carcinogen, which is a known cancer-causer. Decided I didn’t want to cook my family’s food on pans that could cause cancer, so it was time to switch to stainless steel.

9. Use an air filter.

Didn’t realize the importance of this, until I had to “try” and eliminate as many toxins as I could after my BMT, for fear of infection. It is appalling to see what the filter catches on a weekly basis! There are MANY options out there, but when I was looking to purchase one, this was the best one I could find that was reasonably priced: DAYETTE Air Purifier for Home Large Room Up to 3000 Ft² with 2xH14 HEPA Filters, Air Purifiers for Pets Bedroom with Washable PreFilters, 2 TIMES Purification Speed In Turbo Mode for Dust, Hair, Odor.

10. Make your favorite kitchen staples from scratch, instead of buying store bought.

This is similar to label reading, but if you have a hard time finding a healthier alternative or even want to save a few bucks (not necessarily time), think about making your favorite items from scratch. Dressings, breads, and especially meals, because eating out (depending on the restaurant) can be especially hard on our systems, due to the ingredients used.

11. Find healthier alternatives for sickness remedies.

There is much to learn, that I am still learning, about sickness remedies. Learning about how our medicines affect not just our sickness, but the rest of our body, has been a bit eye opening. God also has created our bodies to heal themselves. So where’s the balance? I will share more in a future post. I look forward to sharing this list with you! But PLEASE, do your own research as well!

Now after reading these 11 changes, I don’t want you to think that you need to make these changes RIGHT NOW. If you make all the changes at once? Those changes most likely won’t stick and your budget probably won’t like it either. With that said, I would choose ONE category a week or even a month. Or maybe choose ONE ITEM and make 1 switch per week.

So let’s say you choose to switch one item a week. That means you are making 52 positive changes a year! Isn’t that encouraging? In trying to choose better, remember that better is best and just rest in your best.

And if you need a suggestion of where to start, laundry detergent or cleaning products are often recommended, as they are something you use often, and can make a big difference.

If you are looking to live a lower-tox life, what are you hoping to change? What questions do you have? I’m curious if there are others who are desiring to make the same changes? I look forward to hearing from you and hearing your thoughts!