We're almost done! Welcome to Part 4 of a 5-part series on living a natural solutions lifestyle - the goal being to keep things simple. This week is all about how to REDUCE THE TOXIC LOAD in our body and home. Last week I shared that I battled over 20 years of insomnia and that's why the Rest & Manage Stress topic was near and dear to my heart. This week, about reducing the toxic load, is almost equally as important to me. It took me longer to realize it, but all the toxins I was unknowingly using was a major factor in my 10 year battle with daily headaches.
There are 6 primary areas in living a wellness lifestyle; Eating Right, Exercise, Rest & Managing Stress, Reduce Toxic Load, Informed Self-Care. The 6th component, Proactive Medical Care, I believe becomes a given as you'll be caring for your body before it breaks down when you follow the 5 other primary areas.
Let's kick this off with a look at how we can reduce the toxic load in our body, because personal care products are the worst! There are more than 85,000 chemicals in products on the market and less than 1% have had adequate studies to evaluate their health effects on humans and wildlife. Many, if not all, of the foreign chemicals in our personal care products are hormone disruptors. Some are even carcinogens - a substance linked to the formation of cancer cells.
Ingredients to Avoid:
Fragrance
Paraben
Formaldehyde
Triclosan
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate
Phthalate
Since we're talking about keeping things simple, I'm not going to go into details on ALL the personal care products that are available with doTERRA, because there are a lot! But I will share some of my personal favorites and ones that you might not have thought about doTERRA having.
doTERRA has three different skin care lines. One geared for teens (HD Clear®), basic skin care (Veráge®), and one focusing on anti-aging (Essential Skin Care). I personally use a mix of Veráge® and the Essential Skin Care - picking and choosing the ones that I like the best.
For our hair, doTERRA (currently) offers two different hair care systems. Honestly, I use, and like, both of them. There's also a Root to Tip Serum, Healthy Hold Glaze, and a Leave-In Conditioner.
There are lots of choices when it comes to our body care. Several different lotions, body washes, soaps, and natural deodorants to choose from. Plus doTERRA carries lip balms, a sugar scrub, mud mask, and body butter too.
To keep yourself from going into overwhelm, if you're truly serious about reducing your toxic load, I suggest replacing items as you run out and/or commit to swapping out one product each month.
If you ever want to see the ingredient list on any product here's a lesser known fact. On the
doTERRA website (www.doTERRA.com) click on the product you're interested in. While there's typically an ingredient listed right there on the page, if you want even more details click on the PIP under More Info, it stands for product information page and is a pdf that can be printed or saved.
While the rest of the areas we will walk through are for our home, keep in mind that it plays into our body too. What we use to clean with gets into our body through inhalation and when exposed to these cleaners topically, they seep into our skin and even our blood stream. While doTERRA has always had our backs with the
On Guard Protective blend line, I'm beyond excited that they launched a new line of products to help keep things simple in multiple areas of our home. Welcome to doTERRA abode™.
The multi-purpose surface cleaner was created to tackle through grease, grime, and everyday messes on no-porous surfaces. It's so powerful, in fact, that it can replace many other cleaners that you use in other areas inside and even outside of your home.
I had been making DIY versions of the next two, so I was beyond thrilled to simplify my life even more with the liquid dish soap and dishwasher pods. The dish soap smells delightfully fresh and citrusy. It's gentle on your hands while making your dishes sparkle. The dishwasher pods are concentrated, powerful and effective. They were formulated to power away food particles and stains on all your dishes by cutting through grease.
doTERRA offers a variety of foaming hand washes and as I mentioned there are several lotions to choose from. Since we're typically taking care of our mouths in the bathroom I saved sharing those personal care products for now. I have taken my oral care up a notch or at least not compromised my oral hygiene by making the switch to natural solutions. I can imagine what some of you are thinking, "Natural stuff just doesn't work as well," and that's just not true. I have been using the doTERRA On Guard® Toothpaste since 2016 and have not had a cavity. Plus I have heard many testimonials from customers who have had positive experiences with their dentist too. Like this one:
"I wanted to offer up my experience with On Guard toothpaste and mouth rinse. Since I started using them, which is somewhere around 1-2 years ago, my dentist visits have gotten better and better. They are now so good that I literally develop ZERO tartar on my teeth. I used to need a lot of that scraping of my teeth at each cleaning but at last week's visit I had nothing to scrape, which is really surprising to my dentist. This has all led to healthier gums too. What used to be painful visits have now become fairly pleasant."
The mouthwash is by far the best one I've ever tried and you can even score a free tongue scraper if you participate in the Immunity Targeted Wellness Program.
Did you know that doTERRA also offers many products that will allow you to have a medicine cabinet makeover? There are supplements, like Turmeric Dual Capsules, Copaiba and Deep Blue Polyphenol, that can replace your anti-inflammatories, plus aches and discomfort pills. There are multiple products to help with gut health and tummy tamers. Correct-X is a multi-purpose, natural ointment that helps soothe skin and enhance the natural process of skin returning to a healthy state after being distressed. And there's a ton more trust me. A good place to start would be to check out
The Cura Collection - it was curated for those looking for natural alternatives to the things you use the most in the medicine cabinet.
Pro Tip: You can use the dishwasher pods as a toilet bowl cleaner.
As for the laundry room, this is one of the most dangerous room in the house, as far as toxins go. doTERRA offers both a liquid laundry detergent, made with the powerful On Guard® Protective Blend. But new with the doTERRA abode™ line came concentrated, powerful, and effective laundry pods. They were created to deep clean, lift stains, and keep colors vibrant.
Dryer sheets are awful and one of the worst things we can use. Most dryer sheets contain 7 chemicals that are found on the US EPAs Hazardous Waste List. A safe and effective alternative are wool dryer balls. You can use whatever EO floats your boat – do you want something uplifting, try a citrus or perhaps you want a calming and relaxing aroma for your linens and towels – you can use Lavender or make your own calming blend. Or add a few drops of the signature abode™ oil onto your wool dryer balls to provide your cloths with a fresh, citrus aroma, and keep the cleansing power going long after the laundry is done.
I can almost bet you that there is a convenient and natural solution for just about anything you can think of. So if you're having a hard time finding something, don't have the time, or just need some guidance don't hesitate to reach out. That's not just what I'm here for, it's what makes me happy.
xoDanette