Can’t believe it only two more days to go! Weekends, especially Friday nights, have definitely been the most difficult days. These are usually the days when we let our hair down and enjoy a few naughty but very nice treats. It definitely helps to make sure you are more organised than usual, so as not to fall into the usual traps. Plan some detox friendly activities – a walk with family and friends, pampering session or light exercise, or go to see a film or play rather than having dinner or drinks out with friends. However, you don’t have to forgo all the usual weekend treats – I managed to whip up a delicious roast Sunday lunch with leg of lamb, homemade mint sauce, loads of veggies and roasted sweet potato, and who said detoxing was boring….
Toxin busting lifestyle changes
As I’m coming to the end of the detox I thought I would talk about how you can reduce toxic exposure through lifestyle changes – both during the detox programme and beyond. The most important way we can help reduce our toxic load is to limit our toxic exposure. This can be done not just by avoiding social toxins (alcohol, caffeine and refined sugars) and allergenic foods (wheat, dairy, soy, eggs etc) and eating organic. But also by watching what household products and skin / hair care products we use, the air we breathe and the water we drink.
As I discussed on day 4 – The low down on toxins, our homes are full of potential sources toxins. Separately, these sources may not amount to any great level of toxin exposure (cleaning kitchen surfaces with a few squirts of kitchen cleaner is surely better for you than leaving it dirty??), however the accumulative effect of combined toxins is something else. Although there is no conclusive evidence, it is thought that different toxins can combine and interact leading to an even greater increase in detrimental effects than by separate exposure to individual toxins– a definite case of the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts.
Toxin busting lifestyle changes
As I’m coming to the end of the detox I thought I would talk about how you can reduce toxic exposure through lifestyle changes – both during the detox programme and beyond. The most important way we can help reduce our toxic load is to limit our toxic exposure. This can be done not just by avoiding social toxins (alcohol, caffeine and refined sugars) and allergenic foods (wheat, dairy, soy, eggs etc) and eating organic. But also by watching what household products and skin / hair care products we use, the air we breathe and the water we drink.
As I discussed on day 4 – The low down on toxins, our homes are full of potential sources toxins. Separately, these sources may not amount to any great level of toxin exposure (cleaning kitchen surfaces with a few squirts of kitchen cleaner is surely better for you than leaving it dirty??), however the accumulative effect of combined toxins is something else. Although there is no conclusive evidence, it is thought that different toxins can combine and interact leading to an even greater increase in detrimental effects than by separate exposure to individual toxins– a definite case of the whole being far greater than the sum of its parts.
Did you know - up to 60% of substances applied to your skin can be absorbed and enter the bloodstream?
Have you ever read the label on your moisturiser?
Take Clinique’s popular Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion: Ingredients - Water Purified, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, Tea Stearate, Gylceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.
Or your makeup remover? Such as Simple’s Kind-To-Eyes eye makeup remover pads: Ingredients - Aqua, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth-20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Panthenol, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cyclomethicone, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Ceteareth-12, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Propylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Pantolactone, Citric Acid
Or what about you kitchen spray cleaner, such as Flash Clean and Shine All-purpose Cleaner? Ingredients: <5% Non-ionic surfactants, Soap; Benzisothiazolinone, Perfumes, Citral, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool.
I hardly recognise or can pronounce any of these ingredients, let alone know what they do. And these are products we put on our skin or inadvertently breathe in every day….
This infographic at www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5971/12-Toxic-Ingredients-to-AVOID-in-Cosmetics-Skin-Care-Products-Infographic.html gives a great overview of the top 12 toxic substances found in skin care and household products, including: parabens, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Mineral oil.
If you are worried about the ingredients in your skin care / household products, you can find out more information about them on www.ewg.org/skindeep - a fantastic online database for information on personal care products. And of course there is also the very informative www.everydayexposures.com
Have you ever read the label on your moisturiser?
Take Clinique’s popular Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion: Ingredients - Water Purified, Mineral Oil, Sesame Oil, Propylene Glycol, Tea Stearate, Gylceryl Stearate, Lanolin Alcohol, Petrolatum, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.
Or your makeup remover? Such as Simple’s Kind-To-Eyes eye makeup remover pads: Ingredients - Aqua, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth-20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Panthenol, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Cyclomethicone, Methylparaben, Disodium EDTA, Ceteareth-12, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1,3-Diol, Propylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Pantolactone, Citric Acid
Or what about you kitchen spray cleaner, such as Flash Clean and Shine All-purpose Cleaner? Ingredients: <5% Non-ionic surfactants, Soap; Benzisothiazolinone, Perfumes, Citral, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Linalool.
I hardly recognise or can pronounce any of these ingredients, let alone know what they do. And these are products we put on our skin or inadvertently breathe in every day….
This infographic at www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5971/12-Toxic-Ingredients-to-AVOID-in-Cosmetics-Skin-Care-Products-Infographic.html gives a great overview of the top 12 toxic substances found in skin care and household products, including: parabens, Propylene Glycol, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate and Mineral oil.
If you are worried about the ingredients in your skin care / household products, you can find out more information about them on www.ewg.org/skindeep - a fantastic online database for information on personal care products. And of course there is also the very informative www.everydayexposures.com
So what can be done?
Easy - chose natural / organic skincare and household products over conventional products, these products contain less harmful ingredients.
To help you out, here are some good websites from which you can find non-toxic skin care, make up and cleaning supplies:
www.greenpeople.co.uk
www.lovelula.com
www.essential-care.co.uk
www.naturalcollection.com
www.nutricentre.com
I particularly like:
Skin care:
Belif – skincare products which contain herbs specially selected by the herbalists at Napiers, Edinburgh (www.napiers.net/belif.html)
Dr Hauschka (www.dr.hauschka.com/en_GB/ )
Liz Earle (http://uk.lizearle.com/ )
Origins (www.origins.co.uk )
Hair and body care:
Avalon Organics (www.avalonorganics.com )
Jason (www.jasonnaturalcare.co.uk)
Cleaning products:
Attitude (www.cleanattitude.com)
Ecover (http://uk.ecover.com/)
Method (www.methodproducts.co.uk)
Or what about making your own:
Easy - chose natural / organic skincare and household products over conventional products, these products contain less harmful ingredients.
To help you out, here are some good websites from which you can find non-toxic skin care, make up and cleaning supplies:
www.greenpeople.co.uk
www.lovelula.com
www.essential-care.co.uk
www.naturalcollection.com
www.nutricentre.com
I particularly like:
Skin care:
Belif – skincare products which contain herbs specially selected by the herbalists at Napiers, Edinburgh (www.napiers.net/belif.html)
Dr Hauschka (www.dr.hauschka.com/en_GB/ )
Liz Earle (http://uk.lizearle.com/ )
Origins (www.origins.co.uk )
Hair and body care:
Avalon Organics (www.avalonorganics.com )
Jason (www.jasonnaturalcare.co.uk)
Cleaning products:
Attitude (www.cleanattitude.com)
Ecover (http://uk.ecover.com/)
Method (www.methodproducts.co.uk)
Or what about making your own:
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