Finding balance between awareness and anxiety on your wellness journey
Introduction: The Hidden Burden of Daily Toxin Exposure
“How do I protect my family without going crazy?” This question echoes through our practice almost daily. As practitioners who understand the real impact of environmental toxins on chronic illness, we know the delicate balance between awareness and overwhelm.
We’ve been talking about toxins: heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and microplastics. These tiny daily exposures bioaccumulate in your body to cause symptoms and diseases. We want you to be aware of these things so you can create a toxin-free lifestyle and prevent illness. But being paranoid and freaked out over these things can also affect your health!
The key question is: What balance needs to be struck to protect your health without driving yourself crazy?
When we coach our clients, it’s very important that we take a good look at what toxins may be coming into their bodies each day. We encourage them to examine their food, water, body care products, cookware, and cleaning products to start with. But even just these categories can be overwhelming, especially when you’re already dealing with Lyme disease or an autoimmune condition.
You’re not alone in feeling overwhelmed. The last thing you need when you’re sick is a ton of stress over making lifestyle changes. So let’s make this as simple and stress-free as possible.
Priority #1: Clean Water – Your Foundation for Healing
Why Water Comes First
Water is absolutely critical to good health. It hydrates your cells and tissues, and they simply can’t do their job well if they’re dehydrated. No amount of healing effort will pay off without the right amount of water in your cells.
Here’s what makes water your top priority: Your drinking water is also the place where you’re most at risk for taking in chemicals, heavy metals, and microplastics every single time you drink it.
How Much Water Do You Actually Need?
Your body needs half of your weight in ounces of water each day to be minimally hydrated. That means if you weigh 150 pounds, you need 75 ounces of water daily. You want those 75 ounces to get the job done!
The Hidden Problem with “Filtered” Water
People come into our practice regularly telling us they’re drinking a lot of water each day, but still struggling with health issues. When we dig deeper into what kind of water they’re drinking, we often discover the problem.
If your water is filtered by a substandard system, toxins like these could still be entering your body daily:
- Microplastics
- Glyphosate
- 2,4-D herbicide
- Lead and other heavy metals
When we do testing on people, these contaminants show up consistently, even in those who think they’re drinking “clean” water.
The Best Water Filter: Why We Recommend Berkey
What makes Berkey different? It’s simply the best water filter available. It’s the only one we know of that filters out not just chlorine and other common toxins, but all heavy metals and fluoride.
Why fluoride removal matters: Fluoride is very harmful to your thyroid. If you have thyroid illness in your family, this is especially important for you.
Full transparency: We don’t sell Berkey filters or make any money from them. We recommend them because, for our area, it’s simply the best option.
The Investment That Pays for Itself
Initial cost: $250-$300
Long-term value: Once you buy it, you have it forever
Filter replacement schedule:
- Black main filters: Last up to 4 years (depending on daily usage)
- White fluoride filters: Last 9-12 months
Once you make the initial purchase, the water costs you only pennies each day. This is so much more economical than buying a reverse osmosis system or bottled water.
Why We Don’t Recommend Reverse Osmosis
Important note about RO water: We do NOT recommend reverse osmosis water for drinking. It’s very acidifying to your body, and that makes healing much harder. There’s substantial science behind this recommendation.
Personal story: We were heartbroken when we learned this because we had just paid $500 to install a reverse osmosis filter. It’s all good now. We use that system to wash vegetables and cook with, but for drinking water, we use our Berkey.
The Spring Water Alternative
Ideally, we want pure spring water. There’s significant science supporting why we want pure spring water. If you have access to a pure water stream, take your jugs and get your water there, or have it delivered.
Most of us don’t have a natural spring down the road, so the Berkey is the next best option.
Why Bottled Water Isn’t the Answer
The microplastic problem: We highly discourage bottled water, even the expensive, supposedly healthiest ones. A recent study found that 93% of bottled waters contained microplastics.
The science on microplastics is still emerging, but common sense tells us that artificial substances like microscopic levels of plastic in our bodies cannot be helping anything.
Cost comparison: Berkey is also more affordable than bottled water in the long run.
What About Pitcher Filters?
Brita and PUR limitations: When you consider how often you have to replace these filter cartridges to ensure they’re actually filtering anything (and they don’t even compare to what Berkey filters), you’re really not saving money in the long run.
Zero Water warning: These filter pitchers need to be changed every 2 weeks, or toxic chemicals will actually run out of the saturated filter into your water. Not a good idea.
If You Can’t Get a Berkey Right Now
Temporary solutions: If you can’t come up with the $300 until Christmas or Black Friday sales, go ahead and use your fridge filter or pitcher filter until you can get your Berkey.
Our commitment: We don’t sell Berkey or have any financial connections to that company. We just care about your health! Your water is absolutely the most vital part of your daily health plan, so make this your first priority.
Priority #2: Organic Food – Building Your Foundation of Wellness
The Mindset Shift Around Organic Food
The next priority, which you may not be able to tackle for a few months after you buy your Berkey, is organic food. We understand this can be stressful. Our generation grew up being told there’s truly no benefit from organic food over conventional, and who would dream of paying a dollar more per pound for produce, meat, or dairy?
This can be a huge hurdle for people to cross. But trust us. We work with single moms who work part-time, college-aged adults, and disabled people who live on very little. They all find a way because they know it’s worth it.
Why Organic Food Matters for Healing
The real cost of conventional food: These families understand that it’s not worth saving money by purchasing conventional produce, meat, and dairy if it means risking their health from the many pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics that those items bring into their bodies.
Creative Ways to Afford Organic Food
Where our clients find affordable organic options:
- Clearance racks at Jungle Jim’s and Kroger
- Organic selections at Aldi
- Ministries that carry organic food
- Online distributors
- Growing their own organic food at home
- Learning to ferment vegetables in probiotic jars for winter storage
Remember: Our ancestors all did this. It’s not impossible. It may feel inconvenient and out of the norm at first, but the norm is leading to illness. We want to break free from the norm.
When there’s a will, there’s a way! Do your homework and look for others in your community who are teaching and leading sustainable local farming practices.
The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15: Your Money-Saving Guide
Smart shopping strategy: You can use the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen shopping lists from the Environmental Working Group. Go to EWG.org and look up these lists. They publish their lab test data for free to help people save money.
How it works: Some produce doesn’t test for many toxins, while others test positive for dangerous levels of contaminants you don’t want in your body.
2019’s worst offenders:
- Strawberries (almost always top the list)
- Spinach
- Kale
- Apples
These showed very high levels of toxins you don’t want to take into your body.
Safer conventional options:
- Melons
- Avocados
- Asparagus
These are far more acceptable to buy conventional.
Check out the EWG.org Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists to guide your purchases and save money.
Bonus Tip: Ditch Your Plastic Cutting Board
Plastic cutting boards can release up to 50 grams of microplastics into your food each year, causing inflammation and endocrine disruption down the road. Get a wooden cutting board, such as Haselmayer Goods’ solid wood cutting board made with maple, oak, or walnut and natural non-toxic finish.
Your Gradual Path to Wellness
Taking It One Step at a Time
Timeline expectations: It may take you months to get your Berkey and then start changing your food from processed and conventional to organic, non-GMO, unprocessed options. But these two changes alone can take you a long way in recovering your health and preventing autoimmune illness in your loved ones.
What’s Coming Next
Next week’s focus: We’ll explore changing over body care products, cleaning products, pots and pans, and storage containers. These are things you’ll address after you have clean water and cleaner food in place.
The Importance of Pacing Yourself
Please don’t hear us saying that if you don’t get everything perfect right away, you won’t be helping yourself. Every baby step forward will help.
Why gradual change works: Going at this slowly and at a pace your budget and your partner/family can handle will ensure that these changes are lasting. We don’t want you to feel stressed over this.
Remember: One baby step at a time leads to better health for all.
Key Takeaways for Your Wellness Journey
- Creating a toxin-free lifestyle starts with prioritizing clean water as your foundation.
- Your body needs half your weight in ounces of water daily for proper hydration.
- Berkey water filters remove heavy metals, fluoride, and microplastics more effectively than other systems.
- Organic food reduces exposure to pesticides, herbicides, hormones, and antibiotics.
- The Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists help prioritize organic purchases within any budget.
- Gradual changes are more sustainable and less stressful than trying to change everything at once.
- Small consistent improvements in water and food quality can significantly impact health outcomes.
Remember: You’re Not Alone
We understand firsthand what it’s like to feel overwhelmed by all the changes needed for optimal health. As practitioners who’ve walked this journey ourselves, we’re here to guide you step by step.
Healing is possible. It’s never too late to start building a strong foundation for your family’s wellness. Trust your instincts, take it one step at a time, and know that every positive change you make is moving you closer to the vibrant health you deserve.
Ready to take the next step toward a toxin-free lifestyle? We’re here to help you create a personalized plan that fits your family’s needs and budget. Book an appointment today or contact us to learn more about our comprehensive approach to foundational health.