Eating and Living Clean

by Janice Carlin, PhD, CHHP, CHNP, CNHP

Eating clean and living a clean lifestyle are the essential, basic foundations for being healthy and maintaining your health. When you do this consistently, you benefit not only yourself and your family, but everyone and everything in our world.

You may be surprised to know how many toxins and chemicals you expose your body to over the course of just one day if you are not being mindful of what you put onto and into your body. Of course, you can't avoid being exposed to some toxins because the environment of our world is polluted. However, there are many, many things that you can do to lessen your exposure to harmful toxins and chemicals.

Some Guidelines for Clean Eating

The more chemicals you consume, the more difficult it is for your body to function to its highest capacity for ideal health. Spare your body the extra energy it requires to detoxify itself from a constant onslaught of toxins, so it can use its natural energy resources to keep you healthy and highly functioning in your life.

Eat as much organic food as possible. This limits your exposure to toxic pesticides, herbicides, genetically modified foods, and fungicides, which are all harmful to the body.

Avoid eating synthetic preservatives and additives such as artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners. Avoid eating foods that contain "natural flavors" on the label because there is no requirement to reveal what they are.

Avoid eating anything with MSG (monosodium glutamate), which is a neurotoxin.

Avoid eating processed foods as much as possible. The processing process itself involves chemicals, and often exposing the food to radiation or excessive heat, which destroys nutrients. The processing of wheat includes bleaching the grains to make them appear white.

Avoid eating GMOs. These foods have been manipulated in a laboratory to either contain pesticides within or to be able to withstand treatments of high doses of pesticides and herbicides. Some have been changed to grow bigger, or to not be affected by oxygen when cut open, such as Arctic apples. These are not natural and they are harmful to the human body and to the soil. GMOs include non-organic corn (also in HFCS), soy (in almost all processed foods), sugar (from sugar beets), cotton (cottonseed oil and fabrics), canola (canola oil is not healthy for you), Arctic apples, salmon, zucchini, papaya, alfalfa, dairy from cows treated with recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rGBH) to increase their milk production, and meat and eggs from animals who were fed GMO corn and soy and other grains.

Drink plenty of pure, clean water. I recommend reverse osmosis, spring water, or highly filtered water. This should be the staple beverage you drink each and every day.

Avoid eating extra sugar. Besides being genetically modified, sugar, in all of its forms, is a toxin to the body. It forces you to release extra insulin, which causes weight gain. Choose stevia over sugars when you can.

Avoid drinking alcohol. Alcohol is a toxin no matter how much you consume.

Some Guidelines for Clean Living

The key to keeping chemicals off of and out of your body is to use natural body products and natural cleaning products in your home.

Avoid synthetic chemical fragrances in perfumes, shampoos, soaps, laundry detergent, etc. Use the Environmental Working Group's online resource, Skin Deep Cosmetics Database to see if your body products contain harmful ingredients.

Do not smoke. Tobacco and e-cigarettes contain chemicals that are harmful.

Avoid taking non-medically necessary medications. Try natural alternatives first. For example, turmeric is a powerful anti-inflammatory spice that you can take in the form of capsules. Oregano oil has powerful antibiotic properties. Essential oils have powerful medicinal properties. Do some research and see what you can find before rushing to take ibuprofen or Tylenol.

Move your body and exercise. It's essential.

Spend time outside to expose your skin to sunshine so that your body can manufacture Vitamin D. Also, being in nature allows you to breathe oxygen-rich air that your body also needs.

Even if you follow all of the guidelines above and more, you will still need to make sure you are helping your body to detoxify itself from the pollutants in our world. Help yourself out by keeping the ones you can control away from yourself and your children as much as possible.