100 Ways to Detox Your Toxic Home, Family & Life

We live in an incredibly toxic world. It seems no matter what you do, you cannot avoid exposure to harmful chemicals, compounds, and nano-toxins in your food, water, and the very air you breathe. It’s everything you own too. Numerous studies link these agents to cancer, Alzheimer’s, learning disabilities, miscarriage and a host of other illnesses, conditions, and complications. (Note that this article contains my affiliate links for products.) Let’s face it – we all live in a toxic home!

Scientists once thought babies were protected by the placenta but now research has found that’s not the case. A 2005 study done by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in collaboration with Commonweal found “an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood,” and a total of 287 chemicals in the 10 babies tested. That’s scary! But there IS a solution…

There are ways to safeguard your family from these threats. Here are 100 ways to detox your life, your home, and your family:

DETOX YOUR KITCHEN

1. Stop eating canned food
2. Avoid MSG
3. Don’t eat or serve artificial food coloring
4. Avoid artificial preservatives
5. Eat certified organic whenever possible. Here are some of the most frugal choices for eating organic.
6. Avoid GMO food. Check out my frugal tips resource page.
7. Eat Project Non-GMO Verified if not
8. Eat the Clean 15 produce choices if not
9. Avoid everything on the Dirty Dozen produce list
10. Eat whole food
11. Quit eating fast food
12. Avoid processed foods altogether
13. Don’t eat too much sugar
14. Do eat some iodized salt
15. Don’t eat unlimited amounts of food with soy as it can impact your estrogen levels
16. If you must eat soy, only use organic
17. Avoid canola and vegetable oils
18. Carefully choose unadulterated olive oil
19. Don’t eat synthetic sugar substitutes like Equal or Sweet & Low
20. Don’t drink water from plastic bottles that are hot
21. Don’t refill water in plastic bottles
22. Replace plastic containers with Pyrex or Peva
    
23. Don’t microwave food or drink
24. Do reheat or melt food by putting in an oven-safe glass container and warming up your oven
25. Buy a small stovetop pot to warm up your coffee
26. Use a glass kettle
27. Don’t use paper plates and cups coated with chemicals (most are)
28. Don’t use a Keurig
29. Use stainless steel or bamboo utensils or food-grade silicone
30. Don’t use Teflon and nonstick cookware
31. Use nontoxic cookware made with lead-free glass, cast iron or ceramics.
    
32. Don’t use a traditional crockpot.
33. Do use an Instant Pot or Vitaclay ceramic crockpot
    
34. Avoid antibiotics if possible. If not, be sure to balance your gut while on and when you get off as they destroy healthy gut flora.
35. Don’t drink unfiltered or undistilled tap water
36. Do use a water purifier that can detox heavy metals, prescription drugs, and fluoride
37. Use EWG’s seafood guide before eating or purchasing fish Eat fish sparingly to avoid mercury and other toxic buildups
38. Avoid shellfish and tilapia
39. Avoid fake food (i.e., fake crab)
40. Do a diet that aids your gut, like GAPS
41. If you can’t get all your health and nutrition needs met from food, be sure to take a high-quality, no-additive supplement that’s right for you

NON-TOXIC PERSONAL CARE

42. Avoid fluoridated toothpaste
43. Regularly bathe with Epsom salt to detox
44. Don’t use hair color products that contain resorcinol or PPD
45. Do use natural hair color products like Henna or Hairprint
    
46. Don’t get conned by “pinkwashing”
47. Don’t use deodorants with aluminum
48. Don’t use products with undisclosed fragrance/scent ingredients
49. Don’t use sunscreen products that are unsafe (i.e., oxybenzone, nanoparticles)
50. Avoid chlorine when possible
51. If you do swim in chlorine, shower off the chlorine immediately
52. Don’t get amalgams, which are still mostly toxic. And remove those old mercury-releasing ones you do have!
53. Use non-toxic skincare and makeup products
54. Only go to the doctor when you need to (broken arm, need surgery, mysterious ailment)
55. Avoid mammograms
56. Get thermograms instead
57. And do regular, monthly, palpating checks on your own breasts and annually with your doctor
58. Dry brush your skin
59. Never get nitrous oxide at the dentist
60. Avoid root canals, or if you get one, make sure they get the whole root
61. Use oil pulling if allowed
62. Get on a regular probiotic
63. Detox your system (tons of options, depending on your budget!)
64. Remake your first aid kid with natural remedies
65. Do high impacts workout a few times a week
66. Ditch or reduce your alcohol consumption (it wrecks the effectiveness of your workout!)

DETOX YOUR TOXIC HOME

One of the basic items in a toxic home are those very things you use to keep it clean. But there are other problems too!

67. Never buy toxic laundry detergents that contain brighteners or lasting scents, which stick to your skin for days
68. Don’t use Roundup on your lawn
69. Use OMRI certified products on your lawns and gardens
70. Don’t use green-washed products (i.e., products that are marketed as “clean” or “non-toxic” that really aren’t.)
71. Do use essential oils to scent your home but have a basic education on how
72. Use a blue light filter on all your screens
73. Turn off your Wifi every night
74. Buy devices that reduce exposure to Wifi from your gadgets, computers, and smart meter
75. Make easy DIY products for cleaning
76. Ditch parabens, phthalates and other endocrine disruptors in all your products

MENTAL & EMOTIONAL DETOX

It’s not just the stuff. A toxic home can be a symptom of a mind filled with stress and negativity. You can – and should! – detox that too.

77. Take time to reduce your level of overwhelm
78. Pray or meditate daily. Don’t feel like He’s listening? Read how to hear from God.
79. Read the bible
80. Give cheerfully to those around you
81. Avoid negativity
82. Plan to get 7 hours of sleep per night
83. Disassociate from negative people
84. Turn OFF the news
85. Take a break from social media
86. Take a full day break from tech
87. Write a daily list of things you’re grateful for
88. Tell a friend how much you care about them
89. Get into nature
90. Place images of the great outdoors around your desk
91. Get 15 minutes of sunshine (without sunscreen) every day the sun is out
92. Think before you speak
93. Think even harder before you hit “send” or “enter”
94. Find time for “play” in your life
95. Go on a date that’s outside of your routine
96. Rekindle the romance with a surprise for your partner
97. Resume the lost art of kissing
98. Pet an animal
99. Have “me” time every day
100. Spend weekly quality time with people you love

OVERWHELMED? NEVER FEAR!

Ok, so you’re looking at this list and want to throw in the towel, but don’t! You don’t have to be stressed out about doing all of this at once. There is a simple procedure to clean up your toxic home:

• Pick ONE item to start. This should be something easy and affordable. For example, tossing out the plastic in your cupboard is free and replacing with Pyrex is fairly affordable. Get a quick, painless win like this on the board to start.
• Prioritize what’s next. I recommend you dig into detoxing your food since that has an immediate impact. Strategize budget, food replacements, and how to transition to cooking regularly if you’re a frequent fast-food or restaurant eater.
• Plan out your year. This is not an overnight or “in a month” process. It’ll take some time and doing but that’s ok! Everything you eliminate will make your body healthier.
• Look out for detox symptoms. As you clean out your system, you may have reactions, like a cold/flu symptoms, rash, emotional or behavioral struggles. This is a good thing! I recommend you look into homeopathy for remedies. Boiron is one of my favorite and accessible companies for products!
• Budget wisely. Some things are just costly. For example, there are affordable ways to partially detox your water but for best results, you need to look into a Berkey and a whole-home filter that removes metals, fluoride and more.

MORE WEBSITES TO HELP YOU:

There’s an embarrassment of riches getting rid of a toxic home or life but I’ve picked out a few of my favorites to help you move forward with detox.

DIY & DETOX:

• Wellness Mama
• Natural Living Family

IDENTIFYING TOXINS:

• Mamavation
• Made Safe: Check out the “Education” tab
• EWG

Finally, I’m always here if you need help creating a detox plan! Reach out to me any time.